Interactive graphic: Chandrayaan-2, India's second mission to moon
India launches its second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2 at 2:51 AM on Monday. Here's an interactive graphic that explains the mission in detail.
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THE VEHICLE
GSLV – MK III
Lift Off Mass
3,877 kg (approx)
The GSLV Mk-III is the heaviest and the most powerful launch vehicle of India capable of placing a payload of 4-tonnes on a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
Click on exploded view to see the break down of the vehicle and click on the individual parts to know more. Click on the payload to go to the detailed view.
Click on the labels to read more about each module
The Payload
This module comprises an orbiter, a lander and a rover. The technological marvel of ISRO carries key breakthroughs including a highly complicated payload, indigenously developed in India. For the first time, India is attempting soft-landing and placing a rover on the moon. The module has 14 scientific instruments onboard — eight on orbiter, four on lander and 2 on rover. Only one of these instruments is a passive payload from NASA. With this mission, India is creating another history by sending a three-module heavy payload in one mission with multiple objectives.
![](https://thefederal.com/embed/earth-moon/images/svg/lander.png")
ORBITER
2,379 kg
It will carry five instruments on the orbiter. Three of them are new, while two others are improved versions of those flown on Chandrayaan-1.
The Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC) will conduct high-resolution observations of the landing site prior to separation of the lander from the orbiter.
Payload
- Chandrayaan 2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS)
- Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM)
- Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC)
- Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS)
- Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
- Chandrayaan 2 Atmospheric Compositional Explorer 2 (CHACE 2)
- Dual Frequency Radio Science (DFRS) experiment
Route to the moon
Earth orbit
After launch the module will be placed in an Earth parking orbit of 170kms (perigee) and 40,400 kms (apogee). A series of orbit raising manoeuvres over 16 days will inject the module to a Lunar Transfer Trajectory. The Module, will take 5 days to reach the moon.
Route to the moon
Lunar orbit
Upon reaching the moon’s sphere of influence, the booster is ignited to lower the orbit gradually to 100km from the surface. The module spends 27 days in orbit after which the lander separates from the orbiter and initiates soft-landing towards the south-polar region of the moon, where no country has gone before.
The Mission
Click on the scene to read more
