India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission, launched on July 22, 2019, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, marked a significant milestone in lunar exploration, particularly for its focus on the enigmatic lunar south pole.

Embodying the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) growing prowess in space science, the mission targeted comprehensive studies of the Moon’s topography, seismography, mineral distribution, and surface composition.

The mission’s architecture was ambitious, featuring an orbiter, a lander named Vikram, and a rover called Pragyan. The primary science goal was to investigate the challenging and relatively unexplored south polar region – an area believed to harbour water ice and key clues to the Moon’s geological history. 

The mission sought to map the distribution of minerals, detect the presence of water molecules, and improve our understanding of lunar surface processes.

On September 6, 2019, in a widely reported setback, the lander Vikram suffered a software anomaly during its descent, leading to a crash landing just moments before its scheduled touchdown near the south pole. Despite this, the orbiter segment of Chandrayaan-2 entered a stable lunar orbit and has since operated well beyond its original mission lifespan.

Equipped with eight advanced scientific instruments, the orbiter has continued to collect vital data related to the Moon’s surface minerals, mapping the prevalence of magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium, and iron, and providing new insights into the spatial distribution of water molecules in the lunar polar regions.

Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter has also provided high-resolution images of the lunar surface and significant findings related to exospheric lunar particles and the nature of the Moon’s tenuous atmosphere. Results from the mission have been instrumental in shaping new theories about lunar water cycle dynamics and polar geology, strengthening India’s scientific footprint in lunar research.

Furthermore, the mission’s data has been made available to the global scientific community, fostering collaborative studies and discoveries that extend beyond India’s space programme. The legacy of Chandrayaan-2 is reflected not just in its robust scientific output despite initial setbacks, but also in the momentum it provided for the subsequent Chandrayaan-3 mission and India’s broader aspirations in space exploration.

This mission underscores ISRO’s resilience, technical innovation, and commitment to expanding humanity’s understanding of the solar system. Chandrayaan-2 stands as a testament to the organization’s dedication and acts as an inspiration for future generations of scientists and engineers.

Agencies