Chandrayaan-2: Changes made after July 15 launch abort

New Delhi, July 22: Chandrayaan-2 is India's first attempt at a soft landing on the moon. The original launch date was 2.51 am on July 15, but it had to be called off 56.24 minutes before the scheduled launch time due to a glitch. It is commendable that the glitch was noticed before the launch and what could have resulted in a major embarassment was averted. One must keep in mind that Chandrayaan-2 is a complex mission, and one small failure can result in a disaster.

Mission failure means crores of rupees down the drain, hard work of scientists wasted and a permanent damage to the reputation of ISRO. It later emerged that the scientists detected a fault in a fuel connecting joint in the GSLV-MKIII rocket. ISRO rectified the issue and announced that Chandrayaan-2 would be launched on July 22, and also successfully completed the launch rehearsal. It was also announced that there won't be any change in the planned landing date of the mission on the Moon.

But, major changes were made in the entire schedule. As per reports, the Earth-bound phase is now six days longer than the earlier plan, while the lunar-bound phase has been cut short dramatically by 15 days. Further, the transfer from Earth to the Moon's orbit is now extended by two more days. The deboosting of the Vikram lander and rover after separating from the orbiter has also reportedly been extended by one day

What exactly was the glitch?

The technical snag was observed in the cryogenic stage of the rocket. The cryogenic rocket stage provides more thrust for every kilogram of propellant it burns. ISRO had said that the filling of the liquid hydrogen fuel had been completed, an hour before the launch. Former DRDO director of public interface, Ravi Gupta had told ANI that it was the right decision to call off Chandrayaan 2 launch. We could not have taken any chance in such a big mission. Several rounds of testing are performed of every part. Every movement needs to be monitored at every second, he also said.