SRIHARIKOTA, India – India aborted the launch on Monday of a spacecraft intended to land on the far side of the moon less than an hour before liftoff. The Chandrayaan-2 mission was called off when a “technical snag” was observed in the 640-ton, 14-story rocket launcher, Indian Space Research Organization spokesman B.R. If India did manage the soft landing, it would be only the fourth to do so after the U.S., Russia and China. Because of repeated delays, India missed the chance to achieve the first soft landing near the lunar south pole. India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission orbited the moon in 2008 and helped confirm the presence of water.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 14, 2019 22:55 UTC