Events celebrating the 50th year of Apollo 11 Moon landing are underway, but India is gearing up for its own second mission to the moon.
Dubbed Chandrayaan-2, the lunar mission was originally scheduled for last Monday, but a technical snag resulted in it being aborted an hour before take-off.
Less than five hours for the launch !!!
Filling of Liquid Oxygen for the Cryogenic Stage(C25) of #GSLVMkIII-M1 commenced#Chandrayaan2 #ISRO— ISRO (@isro) July 22, 2019
It’s the first Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the Moon’s south polar region with home-grown technology, and to explore the lunar terrain with home-grown technology. With this mission, India will be the fourth country ever to soft land on the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-2 is set for lift-off at 2:43 PM IST/ 10:13 AM BST/ 2:13 PT/ 5:13 AM ET. The event will be livestreamed on Indian Space Research Organization‘s Twitter and Facebook pages. You can also follow it live on public service broadcaster Doordarshan’s YouTube channel (embedded on top).