Final countdown begins for India's moon mission

The final 52-hour countdown for the October 22 launch of the country's first moon mission, Chandrayaan-I, began early on Monday morning at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Indian Space Research Organisation sources told UNI, there was a minor glitch initially which was soon rectified and the final countdown began. All parameters were being checked for the launch scheduled for 0620 hrs on Wednesday.

The fully assembled Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) was moved to the second launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building on October 18 with a host of scientists launching a sequence rehearsal on Sunday morning. The sequence rehearsal went as planned.

If the weather turns out to be fine, the 44.4 metre tall PSLV-C11, would blast off from the sophisticated second launch pad as scheduled on the morning of October 22 to put Chandrayaan-I in orbit.

The mission will carry 11 instruments, including five from India and six foreign ones, to the lunar surface for various studies and also investigate the presence of chemicals, minerals and search  for water