CHANDRAYAAN-1, 2

Animesh Sarmah

B.Sc 1^st Semester(Physics Major)

India is making pace with the other developed countries in the field of space research. The space research agency ISRO sent missions on the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first mission to the moon launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 22^nd October, 2008. The Chandrayaan-1 was equipped with a lunar orbiter and an impactor.

It was launched on a modified version of the PSLV-C11 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The PSLV-C11 with the Chandrayaan-1 entered into the moon’s orbit on 8^th November, 2008. It had a weight of 1,380 kg at the time of launching and 675 kg in lunar orbit. The estimated cost of the whole project was US $ 56 million. It was operated until August 2009 and later on due to some disturbances in the mechanical parts, it stopped sending information. Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second lunar mission developed by ISRO after Chandrayaan-1 . The mission was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on 22^nd July 2019 at 2:43 pm (IST) to the Moon by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III).

It consisted of a lunar orbiter, a lander named Vikram and a lunar rover named Pragyan, all developed in India by ISRO. Unfortunately on 7^th September 2019 the lander deviated from its intended trajectory at around 2.1 kilometers (1.3 miles) from landing and lost communication.

The main objective of the mission was to explore the location and existence of water on the moon. Thanks to ISRO scientist team which has given us to think the possibility of life on other celestial bodies. This is not the end of the journey but more missions will be seen after the course of time.