India’s Chandrayaan 2 gets delayed due to a technical snag, pausing countdown at 56 mins

• Chandrayaan 2, India's second mission to the moon, has been delayed for the seventh time.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that the launch has been scrapped for now due to a 'technical snag'.
• A new perspective launch date for Chandrayaan 2 is yet to be announced.

India's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan 2, was set to take off with much fanfare. But it was called off — yet again — due to a 'technical snag' with less than an hour before the scheduled take off at 2:15 am, today morning.


In a press conference late, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officially declared that it wouldn't be possible for Chandrayaan 2 to make the launch window.

"A technical snag was noticed. We first have to approach the vehicle to assess the problem. First we have to empty the fuel loaded in the rocket, then the rocket will be taken back for further investigation," an ISRO official told IANS.

"This process will take 10 days after that only we can decide on the launch schedule," he added.

This makes it the seventh time that India has tried to get Chandrayaan 2 off the ground but circumstances have gotten in the way.

Are we there yet?

The launch was progressing as planned with ISRO announcing that the launch vehicle, GSLV Mark III-M1 — called Bahubali or India's 'Fat Boy' rocket — had completed fuelling an hour before the launch.


Even though there was a slight drizzle at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, the space agency said it would have no impact on the launch.

But amid conducting final checks, the countdown clock was paused at 56 minutes leaving onlookers wondering what had gone wrong.

Soon after, it was announced that Chandrayaan 2 wouldn't be coinciding with Apollo 11's 50th Anniversary.

ISRO is yet to announce a new date for the mission .

The world watches India

The Chandrayaan 2 mission has been in the international spotlight since it put India in the elite group of countries — Russia, China and the US — who have successfully managed to land on the Moon.

It was also make India the first country to land on the South Pole of the Moon, which is a feat in itself since there are a lot more craters to navigate while landing as compared to other regions of the lunar surface.

Getting Chandrayaan 2 off the ground is only one part of the equation. The soft landing on the Moon, which should take around 15 minutes, is going to be a bigger challenge. As K Sivan, the ISRO chief puts it, "Those 15 minutes will be the most terrifying moment for us."

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