The study of ancient rocks and craters can offer indications of the origin and evolution of the Moon.
The South Pole region of the Moon also contains clues to the fossil records of the early solar system. Thus, it will improve our understanding of the early solar system as well.
Map the lunar surface and prepare 3D maps of it.
Significance of Chandrayaan 2
In all the space missions, no country has ever attempted to land a spacecraft in the polar regions of the moon. This gave India a lead in space exploration on an international level.
Due to the moon’s axis, few regions on the South Pole always remains dark especially the craters and have higher chances of containing water.
The craters might have never received sunlight because it at very low angles in the Polar Regions and thus, increasing the chances of presence of ice on such surfaces.
The lunar surface area at the south pole of the Moon that remains in shadow is much larger than the North Pole thus making moon’s South Pole interesting. This also increases the probability of the existence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.
The second de-orbiting manoeuvre for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performed successfully today on September 04, 2019, beginning at 0342 hrs IST as planned, using the onboard propulsion system. The duration of the manoeuvre was 9 seconds.
On October 14, 2019, Chandrayaan-2 detected the presence of Argon-40 in the lunar exosphere.
On July 30th, 2020 Chandrayaan-2 imaged the Sarabhai Crater located on the north-east quadrant of the moon
Chandrayaan-2 Mission: Updates
The orbital insertion was achieved on 20th August 2019. The Orbiter has a life duration of 7 years and will continue its mission.
Vikram Lander had a mission life of 14 days. The landing on the moon’s surface was planned on 7th September 2019. However, the landing failed at the final stages. Vikram lander crash-landed on the moon’s surface as the velocity was higher than the desired velocity (2 m/s) and the Failure Analysis Committee of ISRO concluded that a software glitch was the cause of the failure.
Pragyan Rover was planned for a duration of around 14 days. As the landing failed, the rover could not be deployed on the moon’s surface.