More indigenous components in second moon mission: ISRO - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Mylswamy Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayan Mission II, ISRO, on Monday said that there would be more indigenous components in country's second moon mission. Annadurai was in the city to participate in the 30th convocation of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Addressing the media on the sidelines of the function, Annadurai said: "This time we expect more indigenous components will be there. But of course, we don't rule out Indo-Russian composition, which is already there, but may not be that many number of instruments what we carried there (Mission Chandrayaan I)." "As of now India and Russia, others also trying to get in, but until we exhaust our own instruments we are not able to do it," he added. Annadurai further said that country's second Moon Mission would consist of the spacecraft and a landing platform with two moon rovers. He added that ISRO would use the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in its second mission, which would be launched in 2012-13. "This project is already in place and nearly Rs. 425 crores have been allotted for the budget provision for this Chandrayaan II Mission and scheduled to go for in 2012-13...another ISRO Mission Chndrayaan I was carried by PSLV whereas Chandrayaan II will be carried by GSLV," Annadurai added. He also informed that as opposed to Chandrayaan-1, which was a moon orbiter, Chandrayaan-II would have moon rovers and would be capable of actually landing on the moon surface. India terminated its first mission to the moon in August 2009, a day after scientists lost all contact with the unmanned spacecraft orbiting the moon. The 79 million dollar mission was launched amid national euphoria last October, putting India in the Asian space race alongside rival China and reinforcing its claim to be considered a global power.