India calls off Moon mission launch 56 minutes before blast-off

SRIHARIKOTA, India - India on Monday dramatically scrapped the launch of a rocket that was aiming to land a probe on the Moon less than one hour before blast-off because of a "technical" problem.

India wants the Chandrayaan-2 -- or Moon Chariot 2 -- mission to make it only the fourth country after Russia, the United States and China to land a craft on the lunar surface.

Countdown at the Satish Dhawan Space Center was halted 56 minutes and 24 seconds before the planned liftoff at 2:51 am (2121 GMT Sunday).

"A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at T-56 minute," the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Twitter.

"As a measure of abundant precaution, #Chandrayaan2 launch has been called off for today. Revised launch date will be announced later."

Officials at the space center on an island off the coast of Andhra Pradesh state said the problem was in the launch vehicle system.

ISRO had announced one hour before launch that the filling of liquid hydrogen fuel had been completed.

The agency did not say when a new launch could be held.

Low-cost flyer

Attention on the Indian mission had increased as the launch was to be carried out just five days before the 50th anniversary of American Neil Armstrong's history-changing walk on the Moon.

India had spent about $140 million on preparations for Chandrayaan-2 and had hailed the mission as one of the cheapest ever.

A landing on the Moon had been scheduled for September 6.

By comparison, the United States spent about $25 billion -- the equivalent of more than $100 billion in current prices -- on 15 Apollo missions in the 1960s and 70s.

Almost all of Chandrayaan-2's orbiter, lander and rover were designed and made in India.

India had prepared its most powerful rocket, the GSLV Mk III, to carry the 2.4-tonne orbiter. The orbiter was to keep circling the Moon for about one year taking pictures of the surface and sending back information on the atmosphere.

The orbiter was to carry the 1.4-tonne lander Vikram -- which in turn was to take the 27-kilogram (60-pound) rover Pragyan -- to a high plain between two craters on the lunar South Pole.

The solar-powered rover can travel up to 500 meters (yards) and was expected to keep sending back images and data for one lunar day, the equivalent of 14 Earth days.

Pragyan will be looking for signs of water and analyse lunar rocks and soil.

India's first lunar mission in 2008 -- Chandrayaan-1 -- did not land on the Moon, but carried out a search for water using radars.

A soft landing on the Moon would be a huge leap forward in India's space program. National pride is at stake as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed that a manned mission into space will be launched by 2022.

India also has ambitions to land a probe on Mars. In 2014, India became only the fourth nation to put a satellite into orbit around the Red Planet.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump criticizes NASA moon mission after promoting it earlier

US President Donald Trump on Friday criticized NASA for aiming to put astronauts back on the moon by 2024 and urged the space agency to focus instead on "much bigger" initiatives like going to Mars, undercutting his previous support for the lunar initiative.

"For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago," the president wrote on Twitter. "They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!"

Trump's statement, tweeted from Air Force One as he returned from Europe, appeared at odds with his administration's recent push to return humans to the lunar surface by 2024 "by any means necessary," five years sooner than the previous goal of 2028.

NASA plans to build a space outpost in lunar orbit that can relay astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024, part of a broader initiative to use the moon as a staging ground for eventual missions to Mars.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said Trump was only reaffirming NASA's space plan.

"As @POTUS said, @NASA is using the Moon to send humans to Mars!,” he said on Friday in a tweet referring to the President of the United States.

The accelerated timetable to land humans on the moon by 2024 ran into early trouble when the Trump administration asked a skeptical Congress in May to increase NASA's 2020 budget proposal by $1.6 billion as a “down payment” to accommodate the accelerated goal.

The accelerated timetable for going to the moon was a key recommendation in March of the new National Space Council led by Vice President Mike Pence.

'SUSTAINABLE HUMAN PRESENCE'

NASA's website on Friday said the Artemis program would send "the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024 and develop a sustainable human presence on the Moon by 2028." The program takes its name from the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology.

NASA's Apollo program landed the first men on the moon 50 years ago on July 20.

The NASA website also provided details on the space agency's plans for making the moon a jumping off point for future missions to Mars and a place to test equipment and technology for other forays out into the solar system.

Trump's comments about the U.S. manned space program reflect his desire to champion a bold new national objective as he mounts a re-election bid, while also seeking to counter the potential space weaponry capabilities of Russia and China.

Private companies are also joining the race to the moon.

Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos last month unveiled a mock-up of a lunar lander being built by his Blue Origin rocket company and touted his moon goals as part of a strategy aimed at capitalizing on the Trump administration’s push to establish a lunar outpost in just five years.

source: news.abs-cbn.com