Chandrayaan-2: India’s Second Lunar Exploration Mission

Abstract

The Moon has always been the center of attention for mankind, more than any other heavenly body in the night sky. With the early history of the solar system etched on it, the Moon challenges mankind from time immemorial to discover its secrets and admire its marvels. Understanding the Moon will provide us a pathway to unravel the early evolution of the solar system and that of planet Earth. Almost twelve years after its first lunar exploration mission, India bounced back towards Moon with Chandrayaan-2. India’s most advanced engineering marvel Chandrayaan-2 is on a mission unlike any before. Leveraging nearly a decade of scientific research and engineering development, India’s second lunar expedition will shed light on a completely unexplored region of the Moon, its South Polar Region. The indigenously built Chandrayaan-2 consists of an orbiter, a lander (Vikram) along with a rover (Pragyan). With the payload of completely home-grown technologies, it will help us to gain a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon by conducting detailed topographical studies, comprehensive mineralogical analysis and a host of other experiments. The Chandrayaan-2 is India’s first robotic exploration mission to attempt a soft landing on the South Polar Region of the Moon. With the success of this mission, India became the fifth country ever to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface. This paper provides an insight into the Chandrayaan-2 Mission. Additionally, an overview of the mission profile, challenges involved, launch vehicle architecture, spacecraft configuration and scientific payloads are also presented.