India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft captured some pictures of Earth on August 3, 2019, from its L 14 camera on Vikram, the lander. The pictures are shown above.
Chandrayaan-2 launched on July 22 and is the successor to Chandrayaan-1 which was launched in 2008 and was India’s first successful lunar mission. Chandrayaan 1 completed more than 3000 orbits around the moon and was operational for about 312 days. Chandrayaan-2 is comprised of an orbiter, lander, and rover and will land on the moon’s South Pole in early September. If Chandrayaan-2 is successful, it will join the ranks with the Soviet Union, the United States, and China for successfully carrying out a soft landing on the moon.
On July 22, 2019, India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was launched. This mission is a milestone for India as India will be the fourth country in the world to land on the moon(behind the Soviet Union, United States, and the People’s Republic of China). The intended destination of the Chandrayaan-2 lander and rover is the South Pole of the moon. It would be the first spacecraft to land at the South Pole, which is important in that it is believed that this area of the moon may contain a large amount of water ice.
The chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) said “…today is a historical day for space and science technology in India” and that “it is the beginning of a historical journey of India towards the moon and to land at the place near the south pole, to carry out scientific experiments, to explore the unexplored.”
It will take seven weeks for the spacecraft to reach the moon. It should reach lunar orbit by September 6, 2019. However, as can be seen by the Apollo 11 missions, it does not necessarily take seven weeks to reach the moon from the Earth. However, this can simply be explained by the rockets that the two missions used. The GSLV Mk III rocket being used in the Chandrayaan-2 mission does not provide as much thrust as the Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo 11 mission or the Soviet N1 rocket which is the most powerful rocket in the world. As a result, the Chandrayaan-2 probe will spend about 23 days in its orbit around the Earth and slowly increase its distance from the Earth. The probe will then enter lunar orbit and the lander and rover will land on the moon shortly afterward uncovering the mysteries of the moon’s South Pole.
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