Chandrayaan 2: 20-hour launch countdown for India's second moon mission begins

The 20-hour launch countdown of Chandrayaan 2, India's second lunar mission, commenced today at 6:43 pm ahead of its tomorrow's (July 22) launch which is scheduled to take place at 2:43 pm.

The July 22 (Monday) launch of Chandrayaan 2 will be the second attempt by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch its lunar mission after its earlier scheduled launch on July 15 at 2:51 am was called off following a technical snag discovered by the ISRO scientists. 

After the July 15 scheduled launch was halted, a retired chief scientist from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Gauhar Raza had said, "ISRO took a very responsible step by calling off the launch on July 15 after the scientists discovered an anomaly in the helium tank."

#ISROMissions
The launch countdown of #GSLVMkIII-M1/#Chandrayaan2 commenced today at 1843 Hrs IST. The launch is scheduled at 1443 Hrs IST on July 22nd.
More updates to follow... pic.twitter.com/WVghixIca6

— ISRO (@isro) July 21, 2019

Earlier, ISRO has successfully completed the launch rehearsal of the Chandrayaan 2 mission. 

Speaking on India's second lunar mission, ISRO chief K Sivan said, "Chandrayaan 2 will be launched on Monday afternoon. All the preparatory works regarding the launch have been completed. Technical snags that developed in the first attempt have been rectified."

"He said that Chandrayaan 2 will be landing on the moon very slowly. "It will land on the South Pole. There is a lot of scientific testing to be done regarding the mission. Scientists around the world are looking forward to the launch," said Sivan.