We have only seen Hollywood stars and NASA do the incredible adventures in their space programs. But on 22nd October, 2008, India did what superpowers have done and that is to explore the Moon via its space programme – Chandrayaan. Spearheaded by our very own Mylswamy Annadurai, the project was an incredible success.
And now, history will repeat itself when India’s second lunar mission,aptly codenamed Chandrayaan-2 will hit the skies on April (possibly on April 5). It was learned from the announcement during the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in Texas, that the mission will carry NASA’s retro-reflectors that will be used for measuring the distance to the moon. It was confirmed by the NASA Officials too.
The spacecraft costs Rs.800 Crores and it is also overseen by Mylswamy Annadurai of ISRO. The spacecraft is said to weigh 3, 890 Kgs. Its primary mission will to study the Moon to quantify our natural satellite’s conditions and record its data and atmospheric, territorial compositions.
As a tribute to the father of Indian Space Program Vikram Sarabhai, the spacecraft’s lander has been named “Viikram”