Russia To Test Chandrayaan-2 Lander Next Year
Aerospace Daily PROGRAMS BENGALURU, INDIA — Next year,Russian space agency Roscomos plans to test the lander that will be part of India’s second Moon mission, Chandrayaan-2,Roscosmos Deputy Head Anatoly Shilov says. Scheduled to be lofted in 2013, Chandrayaan-2 will have an orbiter, a lander and a rover. It is slated to fly on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota Island. While the lander will be provided by Russia, the orbiter and the rover are being built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The rover will move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, perform a chemical analysis and send the data to the spacecraft orbiting above. The rover will weigh 30-100 kg. (70-220 lb.), depending on whether it is to do a semi-hard landing or soft landing. During its planned one month of surface operations, it will run predominantly on solar power. Initially two lunar rovers were planned — one f...