#chandrayaan2 #india #moon<br />SRIHARIKOTA, INDIA — India's space agency was set to launch the Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission from Satish Dhawan Space Center on July 15 before the mission was aborted due to a technical error, reports India Today. <br /><br />This would have been India's second moon mission, the Times of India reports.<br />The Indian Space Agency said they will announce a new launch date.<br /><br />The mission's spacecraft comprises of a lander, a rover and an orbiter, the Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO. The rover is to be housed within the lander.<br /><br />The spacecraft will carry a total of 13 payloads. This would include the eight on the orbiter, three on the lander and two on the rover.<br /><br />The orbiter will be carrying items such as a terrain mapping camera, a solar X-ray monitor, an imaging IR spectrometer and a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar. <br /><br />The lander will include an instrument for lunar seismic activity and a thermal probe. <br /><br />While the rover will carry an X-ray spectrometer and a laser-induced breakdown spectroscope.<br /><br />The orbiter and the lander will separate once the spacecraft has reached the moon's orbit. The lander will attempt a soft-landing between two lunar craters, according to the ISRO.<br /><br />Once on the moon's surface, the rover will be able to move around semi-autonomously. It will analyze the moon's surface and send data to the lander. The lander will then relay information to the orbiter and to earth, according to the ISRO.<br /><br />India had previously launched its first lunar mission — Chandrayaan-1 — back in 2008.
