JULY 21, 2019 • THE WEEK 17

COVER STORY

CHANDRAYAAN-

LAUNCHED IN VIKRAM SARABHAI’S

BIRTH CENTENARY YEAR,

THE CHANDRAYAAN-2 MOON

MISSION IS EXPECTED TO HERALD

AN ERA OF AMBITIOUS SPACE

PROJECTS FOR ISRO

BY REKHA DIXIT

ikram is ready for a date with the moon. At Srihariko-
ta, the lunar lander waits to fire off on July 15 on board
the GSLV Mk-III, aka Bahubali, to its new home. The
destination is an unexplored high plain between two
craters, Manzinus C and Simpelius N, close to the
southern tip of the moon. It is a sweet coincidence
that this lander, named after the father of India’s space programme,
Vikram Sarabhai, is making its journey on Sarabhai’s birth centenary
year, and also in the golden jubilee year of Indian Space Research Or-
ganisation (ISRO).
The predawn flight is expected to take off at 2:51am. Yet, the new-
ly commissioned launch view gallery at the spaceport will be filled to
capacity by those eager to see history unfurl. Chandrayaan-2, India’s
second lunar probe, aims to make a soft landing on the moon on Sep-
tember 7. This is a challenging endeavour for any country; more than
half the world’s 38 previous attempts have failed. Only earlier this year,
Israel’s maiden lunar probe, Beresheet, lost all communication with its
earth station, barely 10km from its destination. It crash-landed on the
moon, ending its explorations. Only three countries have managed soft
landings on the moon—USA, Soviet Union and China. No one has aimed
for a destination so close to the South Pole, though China’s Chang-e 4
trailblazed with a southern hemisphere landing on the dark side of the
COURTESY moon earlier this year. India’s mission, therefore, is a bold one.

NASA

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