Chandrayaan-3 To Be Launched In Early 2021

9 Sep, 2020 09:56 IST|Sakshi Post

Chandrayaan-3 is likely to be launched in early 2021 instead of the second half of 2020. After Chandrayaan-2's hard landing in September 2019, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had mentioned its plans to launch another mission to the Moon by the end of the year 2020. But, the novel coronavirus pandemic has led to a delay in Chandrayaan-3's launch.

Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for the Department of Space said that, " The launch of Chandrayaan-3 may now take place somewhere in early 2021. Chandrayaan-3 will be a mission repeat of Chandrayaan-2 and will include a Lander and Rover similar to that of Chandrayaan-2, but will not have an orbiter."

Chandrayaan-2 was launched on 22 July 2019, aimed at the Moon's South Pole. On September 7th, the Vikram landed on the Moon. Officials have confirmed that the orbiter is in working condition despite the setback, and is capable of transmitting data back to the Earth.

Singh said that Chandrayaan-1, the ISRO 's maiden mission to the Moon, launched in 2008, has sent  pictures suggesting that Moon may be rusting along the poles.

He quoted that, "The sign of this finding is that even though the surface of the Moon is known to have iron-rich rocks, it is not known for the presence of water and oxygen, which are the two elements needed to interact with iron to create rust."

Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said that, "Thus, the Chandrayaan-1 Moon data indicates that the Moon's poles are home to water, this is what the scientists are trying to decipher."

whatsapp channel
Read More:
More News