UPSC Current Affairs – December 30, 2021

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 20 said that the second lunar mission of India Chandrayaan-2 has completed one year around the Moon in the lunar orbit. According to ISRO, all the instruments of Chandrayaan-2 are performing well at present.

Key Points

• ISRO also highlighted that the fuel onboard is adequate to keep Chandrayaan-2 operational for seven more years.
• The orbiter completed more than 4,400 orbits around the Moon. Although, the soft-landing attempt was not successful previous year but the orbiter was placed successfully in the lunar orbit.
• The agency has also claimed that the orbiter is being maintained in 100 +/- 25 km polar orbit with periodic orbit maintenance (OM) maneuvers.
• Chandrayaan-2 was launched to enhance the knowledge about the moon through a detailed study of its surface chemical composition, topography, thermo-physical characteristics, mineralogy, and atmosphere.

Chandrayaan-2

The second lunar mission of the country, Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh and was inserted into the lunar orbit of Moon on August 20, 2019. The first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 was launched by ISRO in October 2008 and was operated till August 2009.