Union minister of state (independent charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh on Sunday encouraged the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as it is all set to launch the ambitious lunar mission Chandrayaan 2 on Monday.
Singh stated on his official Twitter handle that the preparations for India’s first moon landing mission makes the country ‘stands as a front line nation on the world of space’.
He tweeted, “Countdown begins for the historic day! India now stands as a front line nation in the world of Space. A glorious leap forward for India’s space scientists. Keep it up Team #ISRO.”
Chandrayaan 2 will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota on Monday.
It will be carried by the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk-III).
The objective of the Chandrayaan 2 mission is to get more information on the origin and evolution of the moon.
The key payloads of Chandrayaan 2 include large area soft X-ray spectrometer, imaging IR spectrometer, synthetic aperture radar L&S band, orbiter high resolution camera, alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and laser induced breakdown spectroscope.
Hoping for a successful mission, ISRO chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan went to seek blessings of Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.
Apart from being India’s first moon landing mission, it is also for the first time that two women scientists are leading a prestigious space mission as Chandrayaan 2.
These two women scientists are Chandrayaan 2 project director Muthayya Vanitha and mission director Ritu Karidhal.
Chandrayaan 2 is an advanced version of Chandrayaan 1. Chandrayaan 1 has been successful in detecting the presence of water molecules and other chemical compositions on the moon.