- By Associated Press
- July 22, 2019 at 1:59 AM EDT
- SRIHARIKOTA, India — India is ready to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the far side of the moon on Monday a week after aborting the mission due to a technical problem.
- The Indian Space Research Organization said that fueling the 640-ton rocket launcher with liquid oxygen had begun in preparation for the Chandrayaan-2 mission liftoff scheduled for 2:43 p.m. (0913 GMT), a day after scientists celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that put American astronauts on the moon.
- Chandrayaan, the Sanskrit word for “moon craft,” is designed to land on the lunar south pole and send a rover to explore water deposits that were confirmed by a previous mission that orbited the moon.
- India’s launch a week ago was called off less than an hour before liftoff due to a “technical snag.”
- Indian media reports said the launch was aborted after ISRO scientists identified a leak while filling helium in the cryogenic engine of the rocket. The ISRO neither confirmed nor denied the reports, saying instead that the problem had been identified and corrected.
- The spacecraft carries an orbiter, a lander and a rover which will move around on the lunar surface for 14 earth days. It will take around 47 days to travel and land on the moon in September.
- India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission orbited the moon in 2008 and helped confirm the presence of water.
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