President to greet Chandrayaan-2 team

Hyderabad: President Ram Nath Kovind will greet the team of scientists and officers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) that is behind the launch of the globally awaited Chandrayaan-2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 2.51 am on Monday. Kovind will arrive at Sriharikota a few hours before  the night on Sunday. PM Modi is likely to watch the launch from Delhi.

Before that, Kovind will have a “darshan” of Lord Balaji atop Tirumala Hills on Sunday morning from where he will proceed to Sriharikota.

On Saturday, ISRO chairman K. Sivan visited Tirumala temple and performed puja to the model of Bahubali rocket launcher—GSLV Mk III—which will take the rover to the moon by 6 September.

Sivan told media at Tirumala that the Chandrayaan-2, after learning lessons from Chandrayaan-1 a decade ago, will definitely enhance the standing of India before the international community. He said the presence of the President at the time of the launch demonstrates the importance accorded by the government to the space mission.

ISRO is also planning to provide an opportunity to hundreds of visitors from nearby areas, including school and college students, to watch the Chandrayaan-2 in the wee hours of Monday. The significance of this mission is that the Indian probe will land at the South Polar region of moon, so far an unexplored area.