NEW DELHI, July 21 (KUNA) -- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Sunday that it has began countdown to launch its ambitious moon mission Chandrayaan-2, which was postponed last week.
The 20-hour countdown to launch Chandrayaan-2 scheduled to take place tomorrow from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV M-III) will begin today evening," ISRO Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan told reporters earlier today.
"Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on Monday afternoon. All the preparatory works regarding the launch have been completed. Technical snags that developed in the first attempt have been rectified. The 20-hour countdown will begin at 6.43 pm today. It will be launched at 2.43 pm tomorrow. All arrangements are going well," Sivan said. ISRO had postponed a scheduled launch of the moon mission at the last hour last week after detecting a technical snag in the launch vehicle GSLV M III.
The mission Chandrayaan-2 consists of three spacecraft elements, including a lander, a rover and an improved version of the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter. India had launched its first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 in October 2008 but ISRO ended its operations after 10 months after developing technical problems. It was expected to be operational for two years. (end) atk.hb