Minister of State for Department of Space Jitendra Singh along with NPCIL Chairman and MD S K Sharma (left) and ISRO Chairman Dr Sivan K (Source: Twitter/DrJitendraSingh) Minister of State for Department of Space Jitendra Singh along with NPCIL Chairman and MD S K Sharma (left) and ISRO Chairman Dr Sivan K (Source: Twitter/DrJitendraSingh)

The lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, under which the ISRO will for the first time attempt to land a rover on the moon’s south pole, will be launched in April, Minister of State for Department of Space Jitendra Singh said on Friday. Chandrayaan-2 will be ISRO’s first inter-planetary mission to land a rover on any celestial body.

“India is going to launch Chandrayaan-2 in April. It is under Chandrayaan-1 mission that the ISRO spotted water on the moon. Chandrayaan-2 is a further extension of the project and it is as good as landing a man on the moon,” Singh said.

The rover of India’s second lunar mission, which will cost nearly Rs 800 crore, will be made to land near the yet-unexplored south pole, said ISRO’s newly-appointed chairman K Sivan. Sivan said it the south-pole is a “very tricky area” with rocks formed a million years ago. “It has very old rocks. This could possibly help us understand the origin of universe,” he said. “Most of the lunar missions in the past have explored the area around the equator of the moon,” he added.

“Team #ISRO planning an event that will startle the whole world. India’s ‘Space Mission’ Chandrayan-II to land on the surface of Moon around April this year.” pic.twitter.com/6piLs4XmdZ — Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) February 16, 2018

Sivan noted that the window to launch the mission is between April and November this year. “The targeted date is April. In case we miss the April date, we will launch it in November,” he said.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Technology News, download Indian Express App.

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd