Chandrayaan-2 Launch: PM Narendra Modi watches liftoff, sends a message to ISRO on the glorious moment in history

As ISRO launched its moon mission Chandrayaan-2, at the scheduled time of 2:43 PM on July 22, Prime Minister Modi took to Twitter to send a message to ISRO. As ISRO scripted history, Prime Minister Modi congratulated the team of scientists. Due to technical glitch, ISRO delayed its launching on July 15. It declared that the launch is succesful after July 22 launch. 

In the picture posted by Prime Minister Modi he said that this moment will be etched in history and that the country is proud. He can be seen watching the launch in his office. Chandrayaan-2, consisting of moon-lander and rover mission aims to investigate the unexplored south pole of the moon. With Chandrayaan-2 India aims at the soft landing on the Moon. If successful, it will be the fourth country after US, Russia and China to do so.

Here is his tweet:

Here is the launch video:  

ISRO is undertaking an ambitious moon mission and said that the Moon is the closest cosmic body at which space discovery can be attempted and documented. Dubbed as the most challenging mission undetaken by the ISRO, Chandrayaan 2 is a continuation of India's space exploration programmes. In the past, with Chandrayaan -1 and Mangalyaan, India has boosted it confidence and with Chandrayaan-2, it takes a lead to explore the unexplored. The main aim of the Chandrayaan 2 is to attempt to make a soft land on the Moon's surface, the aim is to make lander -Vikram and rover- Pragyan in a high plain between two craters, Manzinus C and Simpelius N, at a latitude of about 70° south.

Here are the four points that the ISRO quotes that make Chandrayaan-2 special:

1st space mission to conduct a soft landing on the Moon's south polar region

1st Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface with home-grown technology

1st Indian mission to explore the lunar terrain with home-grown technology

4th country ever to soft land on the lunar surface

What comprises Chandrayaan 2?

Chandrayaan 2 has two main components - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) 'Bahubali' rocket and the Lunar module (orbiter, Lander 'Vikram' and rover 'Pragyan').

Bahubali - The 640-tonne GSLV Mk-III rocket stands 43 meters tall and has three stages for initial thrust, core booster, and cryogenic engine.

Lunar orbiter - The orbiter with eight payloads weighing 2310 kg, will orbit the moon with a lunar orbit of 100 km

Lander 'Vikram' - Named after India's space pioneer Vikram Sarabhai with four payloads, Vikram will land on the moon after separating from the orbiter and descend slowly up to 30km for a soft landing.

Rover 'Pragyan'- The six-wheeled rover with two payloads, will roam on the moon's surface

What and when was Chandrayaan 1 launched? 

India's first spacecraft orbiting around the Moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for to do chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon. The spacecraft carried 11 scientific instruments built in India, USA, UK, Germany, Sweden, and Bulgaria. The satellite made more than 3400 orbits around the moon and the mission was concluded when the communication with the spacecraft was lost on August 29, 2009.