Buoyed by the path-breaking discovery of water on the lunar surface by Chandrayaan-1, ISRO is planning to re-think the mission objectives and the experiments to be carried out by Chandrayaan- 2 mission which the space agency plans to launch by 2013.
“We have a good head start.
The data we have is really exciting and we will definitely have to re-visit the mission objectives.
We may go for certain midcourse correction of the objectives,” ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said. He added the Chandrayaan-2 will drill a few millimetres down the surface and collect samples.
ISRO’s second unmanned lunar exploration mission includes a lunar orbiter as well as a lander and rover. The lander is Russian, while the lunar rovers would be a Russian and Indian one.
“We have a handful of proposals from the international space agencies who want to participate in the mission. If we have to consider them, then we will have to undertake at least three launches. We are studying their proposals as the spacecraft is already full now,’’ said Nair.
On the lessons it has learnt from the Chandrayaan-1 to protect itself from the hostile environs of the moon, he said ISRO scientists would provide adequate margin and shielding.
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