Chandrayan 2 mission has been put on hold citing technical issues

It was the right move.

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The Moon is the closest cosmic body at which space discovery can be attempted and documented. It is also a promising testbed to demonstrate the technologies required for deep-space missions.

Chandrayaan 2 is an Indian lunar mission that will boldly go where no country has ever gone before — the Moon’s south polar region. Through this effort, the aim is to improve our understanding of the Moon — discoveries that will benefit India and humanity as a whole.

Initially scheduled for liftoff from Sriharikota on 15 July at 2.51 am IST, India’s second unmanned mission to the Moon, named Chandrayaan 2, has been put on hold citing technical issues, and a changed countdown is to be announced shortly.

A technical snag was seen in the launch vehicle at T-56th moment. As a measure of abundant precaution, the Chandrayaan 2 launch has been called off for today, said ISRO in a tweet. A modified launch date will be declared later.

An ISRO official told IANS, “The technical snag was noticed. We first have to approach the vehicle to assess the problem. First, we have to empty the fuel loaded in the rocket; then the rocket will be taken back for further investigation. This process will take ten days after that only we can decide on the launch schedule.”

A former head of the Directorate of Public Interface at DRDO, Ravi Gupta said, “We could not have taken any chance in such a big mission. Several rounds of testing are performed for every part. Every movement needs to be monitored every second. It’s normal. If there are anomalies, you can’t send it off. Mission cost is over Rs 1,000 crore. It may be a simple thing or complex thing; they’ll analyze it.”

Chandrayaan-2 will make India the fourth country to soft-land on the moon after the erstwhile Soviet Union, the US, and China.

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