Chennai, Aug 20 (UNI) It was a tense 30 minute operation',
that's how ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said on the successful
injection of Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into the Lunar surface.
“It's a tense 30 minute operation', he said.
He said tension and anxiety kept building on as the clock ticked,
but it was a great relief and joy when the spacecraft was put into
the lunar orbit successfully.
As the Chandrayaan-2 entered the lunar orbit, about 200 scientists
at the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking
and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru, which has been
round-the-clock monitoring the spacecraft ever since its launch on
July 22 from the spaceport of Sriharikota, turned jubilant, as they
hugged and shook hands with each other.
With the insertion of Chandrayaan-2 into the lunar orbit, the
spacecraft began its challenging journey for a soft landing on
the moon's South Polar region, hitherto an unexplored frontier
by any country in the world so far.
On the successful insertion into the Lunar obit, ISRO tweeted
'nearing our destination'.
'Today after the Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI), #Chandrayaan2 is
now in Lunar orbit. Lander Vikram will soft land on Moon on
September 7', it said.
After the successful launch, Chandrayaan-2, carrying an
Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and six-wheeled robotic Rover
(Pragyan), commenced its 3.844 lakh km, 48-day long
journey for a soft landing on the Moon's South Pole.
Weighing 3,850 kg, Chandrayaan-2 was carrying 13 Indian
Payloads (eight on Orbiter, 3 on Lander and two on Rover)
and one passive experiment from NASA.
While the technical difficulties of landing on the Moon's
South Polar region have deterred many previous attempts,
Chandrayaan-2 will be the first to reach this part of the
lunar surface--taking the Indian Tri-colour where no human
has been before.
UNI GV 1055