Chandrayaan-2 launch Highlights: India scripts history, all eyes now on Sept 7 moon landing

#Chandrayaan2 launched | India scripts history, all eyes now on September 7 moon landing.

Here is the full coverage: https://t.co/be0nF31OQ0 pic.twitter.com/aFMctW1zhp

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) July 22, 2019

Congrats to ISRO on the launch of Chandrayaan 2, a mission to study the Moon. We're proud to support your mission comms using our Deep Space Network and look forward to what you learn about the lunar South pole where we will send astronauts on our Artemis mission in a few years.

Congrats to @ISRO on the launch of Chandrayaan 2, a mission to study the Moon. We're proud to support your mission comms using our Deep Space Network and look forward to what you learn about the lunar South pole where we will send astronauts on our #Artemis mission in a few years pic.twitter.com/dOcWBX3kOE

— NASA (@NASA) July 22, 2019

Total number of 7500 visitors witnessed the launch of Chandrayaan 2, LIVE from the Viewer's Gallery at Sriharikota, ISRO said.

Total number of 7500 visitors witnessed the launch live from the Viewer's Gallery at Sriharikota
Here's another view of visitors...#Chandrayaan2 #GSLVMkIII #ISRO pic.twitter.com/EqvZAYyIVU

— ISRO (@isro) July 22, 2019

The Karnataka assembly Monday congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch of its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameswara read out the message, congratulating ISRO for its achievement during the crucial debate on the confidence motion moved by chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. Members welcomed the announcement by thumping their desks.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Monday congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch of the space agency's second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2.

India this afternoon successfully launched its second lunar mission on board its powerful rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from the spaceport in Sriharikota. "All the countrymen are feeling proud on the successful launchof Chandrayaan-2 by our scientists," said RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi. 

President Ram Nath Kovind: The historic launch of Chandrayaan 2 from Sriharikota is a proud moment for all Indians. Congratulations to our scientists and engineers for furthering India's indigenous space programme. May ISRO continue to master new technologies, and continue to conquer new frontiers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO chief K Sivan on call after the successful launch of India's moon mission Chandrayaan 2. 

Prime Minister @narendramodi congratulates team @isro for the successful launch of #Chandrayaan2 pic.twitter.com/HbmkwLHlZD

— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) July 22, 2019

The Goa Assembly on Monday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the successful launch of its second lunar mission 'Chandrayaan-2'.

During the ongoing monsoon session of the state Assembly, Speaker Rajesh Patnekar said it was an "extremely proud moment" for the people of the country. Congratulating ISRO for the moon mission, he told the House, "There is good news for you. India has successfully
launched its Chandrayaan-2 mission It is an extremely proud moment for us."

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2 - the country's second lunar mission that aims at exploring the unchartered south pole of the moon by landing a rover.

"ISRO has made history with successful launch of Chandrayaan-2 from Sriharikota. It is a matter of pride for the entire nation. It is the result of hard work of ISRO scientists, who deserve commendation", Kumar - an engineer by qualification who is also known to be a science and technology enthusiast - said in a statement. (PTI)

Akshay Kumar, Taapsee Pannu, Ekta Kapoor, Vidya Balan and others took to Twitter to congratulate ISRO on the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2. Read more here

#Chandrayaan2 launched | Students of a school in Ahmedabad cheer India's first exploratory mission to the Moon

Express Photos by Javed Raja

Follow LIVE: https://t.co/be0nF31OQ0 pic.twitter.com/uKv8uLQFnc

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) July 22, 2019

Minutes after India’s second moon mission was launched, ISRO chief K Sivan Monday announced that the country’s most powerful rocket, GSLV MK-III, had successfully placed Chandrayaan 2 in the Earth orbit.

"It is the beginning of a historic journey of India towards the moon and to land at a place near the South Pole to carry out scientific experiments,” Sivan said. Read more here

The Chandrayaan 2 mission would see the lander and rover modules of the spacecraft make a soft-landing on the moon’s surface 48 days from now, on September 7. Both of them will be ‘alive’ there for 14 days, during which they will carry out various experiments and collect data.

Today’s launch went ahead without any trouble, as the massive 640-tonne GSLV Mk-III rocket carried the 3850-kg Chandrayaan-2 composite module into space. Less than seventeen minutes later, Chandrayaan-2 was on its own, having been deposited in an earth orbit by the rocket, which after burning its successive stages, had separated itself completely from the spacecraft.

Chandrayaan-2 will spend the next 23 days circling around the earth, incrementally raising its orbit, before it would embark on a seven-day journey to enter an orbit around the moon.

Chandrayaan 2 will be the world's first lunar mission to reach the Moon's south pole region. Know more about it here

#Chandrayaan2 will be the world's first lunar mission to reach the Moon's south pole region@isro pic.twitter.com/PWjLivJlPz

— InUth (@InUthdotcom) July 22, 2019

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated ISRO scientists on the flawless launching of Chandrayaan 2 from Sriharikota.

Congratulations to ISRO scientists on flawless launching of #Chandrayaan2 from Sriharikota

Team ISRO scripted a new chapter in India’s space history with the launch of this ambitious and indigenous Mission to Moon.

The nation is extremely proud of its scientists and Team ISRO.

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) July 22, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to celebrate the successful launch of India's moon mission Chandrayaan 2 on Monday.

"Indian at heart, Indian in spirit! What would make every Indian overjoyed is the fact that Chandrayaan 2 is a fully indigenous mission," he said.

Indian at heart, Indian in spirit!

What would make every Indian overjoyed is the fact that #Chandrayaan2 is a fully indigenous mission.

It will have an Orbiter for remote sensing the Moon and also a Lander-Rover module for analysis of lunar surface.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 22, 2019

"Efforts such as Chandrayaan 2 will further encourage our bright youngsters towards science, top quality research and innovation. Thanks to Chandrayaan, India’s Lunar Programme will get a substantial boost. Our existing knowledge of the Moon will be significantly enhanced," he said. 

The Congress, while congratulating ISRO scientists for the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2, said it is a "good time to remember the visionary move of India's first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru" and "Dr Manmohan Singh for sanctioning the Chandrayan2 project in 2008."

This is a good time to remember the visionary move of India's first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to fund space research through INCOSPAR in1962 which later became ISRO. And also Dr. Manmohan Singh for sanctioning the #Chandrayan2 project in 2008. pic.twitter.com/2Tje349pa0

— Congress (@INCIndia) July 22, 2019

"Heartiest congratulations to Team ISRO on the successful launch of Chandrayaan-2 from the Sriharikota Range(SHAR), in Andhra Pradesh today. Successful landing of Chandrayaan-2, an indigenously developed Spacecraft launched by India’s most powerful rocket- GSLV MKIII on the moon in a few weeks will make India the 4th country to do so," Vice President Venkaiah Naidu tweeted. 

Successful landing of Chandrayaan-2, an indigenously developed Spacecraft launched by India’s most powerful rocket- GSLV MKIII on the moon in a few weeks will make India the 4th country to do so. #GSLVMKIII #ISRO #ISROMissions#Chandrayaan2

— VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) July 22, 2019

Congratulating ISRO for the successful launch of India's moon mission Chandrayaan 2, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted: "This is one of the greatest technological achievements in Indian history."

CM Pinarayi Vijayan warmly congratulates ISRO on the success of #Chandrayaan2 mission, India's second lunar exploration mission. This is one of the greatest technological achievements in Indian history. @isro

— CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) July 22, 2019

Former MEA Sushma Swaraj congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2 on Monday. "I salute ISRO
scientists for making India a space super power by successfully launching Chandrayaan2. I wish the mission a grand success," she tweeted. 

I salute @Isro scientists for making India a space super power by successfully launching #Chandrayaan2. I wish the mission a grand success.

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 22, 2019

Here are the first visuals of ISRO's Chandrayaan2 taking off.  India's first exploratory mission to the Moon was launched today at 2.43 PM. The mission would see the lander and rover modules of the spacecraft make a soft-landing on the moon’s surface 48 days from now, on September 7.

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Here are the first visuals of #ISRO's #Chandrayaan2 taking off!https://t.co/JbJYHTmOuD pic.twitter.com/PGQGeqxv36

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) July 22, 2019

"Today is a historic day. I'm extremely happy to announce that GSLV-MkIII-M1 has successfully injected Chandrayaan-2 in the defined orbit. It is a beginning of India's historic journey to the Moon," says K Sivan. "ISRO has bounced back with flying colours after the technical snag."

Chandrayaan-2 has been injected into Earth's orbit. The spacecraft will spend 23 days in Earth orbit, before making its journey to the Moon. The journey to the Moon will take seven days. Chandrayaan-2 is expected to spend 13 days in lunar orbit, before the Vikram Lander module and the Pragyaan Rover will separate from the Orbiter and make its way to the surface of the Moon. The Orbiter orbits the Moon at a distance of 100 kilometres. On September 6, if all goes well, the duo will soft-land on the Moon.

India’s???? most powerful launcher till date, #GSLVMkIII ?? lifts-off for the ??Moon with #Chandrayaan2 from #Sriharikota#ISROMissions #ISRO pic.twitter.com/jYV3VurihQ

— PIB India (@PIB_India) July 22, 2019

Here's the first image we have of the launch of Chandrayaan-2 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. India's Moon mission took off at around 2.45 pm this afternoon to cheers from ISRO scientists. The 'Baahubali' rocket will inject Chandrayaan-2 into Earth's orbit about 16 minutes after take-off.

In a leap for Indian space scientists, India has launched Chandrayaan-2, its first exploratory mission to the Moon. The GSLVMkIII-M1 took off at 2.43 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. 

There are minutes to go for the launch of Chandrayaan-2, India's first exploratory mission to the Moon. The success of Chandrayaan-2 would boost India into an exclusive club of just three nations,  including the US, Russia, and China, who have achieved to land a rover on the Moon. It would also boost India's reputation in the space arena.

We have less than an hour now for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The filling of Liquid Oxygen in cryogenic stage(C25) of GSLV MkIII-M1 has been completed. 

The window of opportunity for the launch of India’s first lander mission to the Moon is extremely small — barely a few minutes — and the scientists have very little flexibility in the final minutes before lift-off. Why is this? Since everything in space is in motion, and because there are no straight lines in space flight, a successful launch is a matter of detailed and complex mathematical calculations.

Chandrayaan-2, which means 'moon-craft' in Sanskrit, is heading for the south side of the Moon. This is a site where no mission has gone before. This is the part of the Moon which holds the possibility of presence of water. So far, Moon landings have been in areas close to its equator as it receives more sunlight, which is required for solar-powered instruments. If Chandrayaan-2 becomes successful, India will become only the fourth nation to land a rover on the lunar surface after the US, Russia, and China.

There is just under three hours to go for the launch of Chandrayaan-2, India's mission to the Moon. In case you're just joining us, ISRO second Moon shot is scheduled for 2.43 pm this afternoon. Stay with us as we bring you the latest news and updates!

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam, a former aerospace scientist who was widely known as the ‘Missile Man of India’, had given suggestions to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NASA scientists on Chandrayaan-2 nearly 10 years ago. Here's what he said.

The moon has extremes of both hot and cold temperatures. Near the its equator, daytime temperatures reach 120 degrees Celsius, while at night it is about -130 degrees Celsius. So, how do missions survive the lunar night? Virat Markandeya explains.

It is now 50 years from the first landing on July 20, 1969, that humans have finally decided to go back to the moon. The stage is now set again for a race to the moon over the next decade, and, this time, it is likely to be markedly different from the earlier one. In all probability, it will involve multiple participants, be more collaborative than competitive, and will be guided by the overall objective of utilising the resources of the moon, setting up permanent facilities for scientific explorations and using it as a launch pad to take humans deeper into space, Amitabh Sinha writes.

Here's a quick timeline of dates of ISRO's Rs 100 crore Chandrayaan-2 moon mission:

* 23 days in Earth's orbit 
* Seven days to journey to the Moon 
* 13 days in lunar orbit
* Lander module to separate from Orbiter on Day 43, or September 2
* September 6: Landing on the Moon

Chandrayaan-2 is a moon-lander and rover mission. The spacecraft, which will orbit the Moon from 100 kilometres away, is also carrying a Lander and Rover. The Lander will carry the Rover to the surface of the Moon. The Rover will crawl on the surface, at one centimetre per second — eventually to 500 metres — to collect and transmit data back to Earth. Powered by solar panels, both will have an expected mission life of about 14 earth days, by which time the experiments are expected to be terminated.

Chandrayaan-2, which will be launched today, is an extension of Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the moon. It operated for nearly a year between October 2008 and August 2009. During this time, the orbiter helped discover evidence of water molecules on the Moon. Chandrayaan-2 will attempt to investigate the presence of water, as well as fossil footprints, on the Moons which could hold the answers to the origins of the earth and solar system.

Due to a sudden drop in pressure in one of the tanks containing helium gas on the GSLV Mk-III rocket, ISRO decided to abort the Chandrayaan-2 moon mission on July 15. The rocket, which will be launched today, will deliver Chandrayaan-2 in Earth's orbit. This spacecraft consists of three modules — Orbiter, Lander and Rover.

Scientists from ISRO have a small window of opportunity to launch Chandrayaan-2 this afternoon. After the mission was deferred on July 15, the next most suitable time was for "barely a couple of minutes" this afternoon. "So, all operations in the run-up to the launch have to be completed with extreme precision. There is no room for any delay,” a former ISRO scientist said.

Welcome to our live blog on the launch of Chandrayaan-2, ISRO's mission to the Moon. A 20-hour countdown is underway for lift-off, which is scheduled at 2.34 pm. Follow our live blog through the day for the latest news and updates.