Sriharikota: In a prestigious and challenging second lunar mission, India's heaviest rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1, carrying 3,850 kg Chandrayaan-2--aiming for a soft landing on the Moon South Pole--lifted off from the SHAR Range on Monday afternoon.
After a 20 hour countdown, the 43.43m tall rocket, with a lift-off mass of 640 tonnes, soared into the skies from the Second Launch Pad at 1443 hrs, belching orange fumes and with a rumble that shook the
earth.
The successful landing will make India the 4th country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, after the space agencies of the USSR, USA and China and even it could make India the superpower.
The main fact that makes this launch more special is that this time, the whole mission is headed by the 2 Indian women in the ISRO including Muthayya Vanitha, who is the project director of Chandaryaan-2 and Ritu Karidhal, who is the mission director of Chandaryaan-2.