[meteorite-list] India Planning Lunar Rover (Chandrayan-2)

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/report-chandrayan-ii-s-rover-will-close-moon-isro-gap-1961550

Chandrayan-II's rover will close 'moon-Isro' gap
DNA
February 12, 2014

India's Chandrayan-II mission will see the country sending a rover and 
a lander on the moon surface. This was revealed by AS Kiran Kumar, director 
of Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, at a press interaction organised 
at Isro. Kiran Kumar, who has been conferred Padma Shri, the fourth highest 
civilian award, was speaking on the sidelines of a felicitation function 
organised by Isro for his achievement.

"In Chandrayan-I we dropped a Moon Impact Probe on the surface while in 
the second mission we will send a lander and a rover on the surface which 
will then collect data for us. What sets the phase-II apart is that earlier 
we had to depend on Russia for a rover and a lander but this time around 
we will be making it on our own," said Kiran Kumar.   

According to him, the mission is likely to be ready by 2016. To a question 
on the possibility of a manned mission to moon, he said they were working 
only on critical technology development. As to where India stands globally 
as far as space technology is concerned, he said the space technology 
programme in India was aimed at addressing specific problems of the country 
and not to be in a race with other nations.

"India is the only country other than the US to have a satellite like 
INSAT-3D that gives it an edge in weather predictions," said Kiran Kumar. 
He pointed out that this was the reason why the country could correctly 
predict landfall and location of cyclone Phailin and minimise the loss 
of life. He talked of Isro’s work in helping agencies identify prospective 
fishing zone, crop yield forecast, etc.

When quizzed about his feeling at being awarded the Padma Shri, he said 
the honour belonged to the entire team of SAC, not one individual. "The 
only difference it makes is that it puts on you greater responsibility 
and you carry high expectations of people and the government. After the 
award, I carry with me the aspirations of a huge number of people," said 
Kiran Kumar.