According Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) they are all set to launch Chandrayaan-2 in 2013. The configuration of Chandrayaan-2 is finalized and it would be launched in 2013 according to ISRO Chief K Radhakrishnan. Chandrayaan-2 will be a joint venture of India and Russia earlier Chandrayaan-1 was joint venture of several international space agencies such as the European Space Agency (ESA) having three of its instruments on board.
Chandrayaan-2 will consist of a lander and a rover for a soft land on moon. The rover will move on the surface of the moon and pick up samples of rocks and soil and conduct a chemical analysis on it. The data would then be sent to the spacecraft orbiting above. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, will build this lander and rover, this will be the second smaller rover will be built by India.
ISRO will primarily be handling the orbiter (that part of the spacecraft, which orbits around the moon), while Roscosmos will handle the lander/rover. The rover will scout the lunar surface, pick up soil samples and conduct chemical analysis of it. The generated data will then be sent to the orbiter.
ISRO Chief K Radhakrishnan told The Economic Times
We are finalizing the configuration for Chandrayaan-2. This mission will have an orbiter, which will carry the lander and a rover. The lander will bring the rover to the surface of the moon and during the time it is there, (it) will take some samples to be analyzed in the orbiter and back to the earth. In the orbiter we will have certain instruments, we are finalizing which are those to be put there. It is about 50 kilograms of mass. There is a scientific team which is looking at the requirements and possibilities and also… from Chandrayaan-1 experiment. Space scientists present there delved on colonization of the moon.
Kasturi Rangan, former ISRO Chairman Said,
The lunar environment neither has an atmosphere nor a magnetic field, so the radiation from the sun can directly hit us and severely damage our cells, which can cause cancer. So you need to get into areas where you can avoid radiation; therefore, the concept of tunnel came in. We are trying to look at tunnels where one can get in and live. Though virtually from a big civilisation we will all become cavemen again
