India’s Chandrayaan 2 mission hopes to confirm evidence of water ice and essential minerals in the lunar crust. Eternally dark craters at the south pole are believed to hold vast quantities of water. Chandrayaan 2 has successfully carried out a series of manoeuvres to change its elliptical orbit around the Moon to a circular orbit, passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100km from the surface.

Landing is the most complicated part of the mission. Once separated from the orbiter on September 2, the Vikram lander will be travelling at almost 6,000km/h. After spending four days mapping the landing site to ensure it is as safe as previously thought, the lander will begin its powered descent on September 7 at 08:10GMT (01:40IST). Vikram will use its five 800 N thrusters to slow down from over 16 metres per second to below one metre per second, in just 15 minutes -- a stage described by Kailasavadivoo Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), as “15 minutes of terror.”

 
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