Countdown for Chandrayaan-1 begins

ndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch Chandrayaan-1, the country's first unmanned moon mission, with the beginning of 49-hour countdown early Monday. 'The countdown for the launch of Chandrayaan-1, which began this morning at 5.22 am is progressing smoothly, SDSC Associate Director Dr M Y S Prasad told PTI.

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The unmanned spacecraft using India's tried and tested rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), would be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) in Sriharikota, about 80 km from Chennai on Wednesday at 6.20 am. All operations were progressing satisfactorily for the launch of the spacecraft. 'The 49-hour countdown has number of activities including the major propellant filling of PS-2 and PS-4,' he said. Earlier the countdown was set to 52 hours. Since all the formal activities for the launch was finished three hours earlier from the original schedule, the countdown time was set at exactly 5.22 am Monday, Prasad said. 'About 43 tonnes of propellant would be filled during the countdown period. Pressurisation of actuators (mechanisms) will also be done at the same time,' he added. Prasad said it would take about 32 hours for both filling of propellants and pressurisation. Other things, including couple of launch testing will also be done during the period. He said after the rehearsals, SDSC officials had ensured that everything was in place before the countdown. 'All the preparatory works, including the checking of 11 payloads, were done successfully before the countdown,' he said. SOURCE-http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=11578%20&%20section=5