India ready for its second moon mission

Coimbatore, Nov 18 (ANI): After the success of Chandrayaan-1, India’’s first moon mission, country is ready for its second lunar mission as it started work on Chandrayaan-2, says M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1.

Talking to media here on Monday, Annadurai said the Central Cabinet has already given its approval for the second moon mission.

“Chandrayaan-2 has been already approved by the cabinet. And we have been given the budget of rupees 4.25 billion,” he added.

Chandrayaan-2, which will be a joint effort between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russia, is planned for 2011.

The mission will consist of a lander and a rover for a soft landing on moon.

The rover will move on the surface of the moon and pick up samples of rocks and the soil and conduct a chemical analysis on it. The data would then be sent to the spacecraft orbiting above.

India launched Chandrayaan-1 on October 22, joining the Asian space race in the footsteps of rival China and reinforcing its claim to be considered a global power.

Chandrayaan-1, a cuboid spacecraft built by ISRO, is also seen as a boost for the country’’s ambitions to gain more global space business.

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