India will relaunch a mission to land a rover on the moon, in what would be a first for a nation that is trying to become a space superpower.
The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-2 moon mission will launch at 5:13 a.m. EDT (0913 GMT) on Monday from the agency's Satish Dhawan Space Center on the island of Sriharikota about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Chennai. The local time at liftoff will be 2:43 p.m. IST.
India initially tried to launch the Chandrayaan-2 mission Sunday (July 14) using its powerful Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III-M1 rocket, but they called off the attempt due to a "technical snag" an hour before liftoff. The glitch was reportedly related to a helium pressurization system on the rocket's cryogenic stage, according to Spaceflight Now.
The Chandrayaan-2, which weighs 3.8 tons and carries 13 payloads, has three elements -- lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
Indian Space Research Organisation's Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft (bottom) and its Vikram lander (top) are prepared to be encapsulated by a payload fairing before being loaded on their Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III-M1 rocket for a July 2019 launch.
(Image credit: India Space Research Organisation)
It will travel for two months, before positioning itself in a circular orbit 62 miles (100km) above the moon's surface. From there, the lander -- named Vikram after the pioneer of the Indian space program Vikram Sarabhai -- will separate from the main vessel and gently land on the moon's surface near its South Pole.
A robotic rover named 'Pragyan' (meaning "wisdom") will then deploy and spend one lunar day, or 14 Earth days, collecting mineral and chemical samples from the moon's surface for remote scientific analysis.
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