No cyclone threat to Chandrayan

Even as the rain kept the country on tenterhooks with regard to the launch of the Chandrayaan, good news has come from the Met department which says that the weather may not play spoilsport after all.

A unit of the MeT department has been set up in Sriharikota to monitor the weather situation closely and give regular updates to ISRO which will be creating history at 6.20 am, October 22 when it launches its first unmanned moon mission, the Chandrayaanp-1.

Met department officials told rediff.com that there is no cyclonic activity reported in Sriharikota at the moment and they are hopeful that the situation will remain the same.

However, the weather forecast predicts rains in Sriharikota where the launch is scheduled. The Chandrayan will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space in Shriharikota on October 22.

Rains have been forecast along the coastline of Andhra Pradesh. Sriharikota is situated in Nellore district which is in Andhra Pradesh.

However the rains are not much of a concern for ISRO officials as they had maintained that only cyclonic activity or heavy lightning can put the launch on hold.

ISRO says that the spacecraft is completely rainproof and hence rains will not hamper operations. With barely seven hours remaining for the historic event, scientists and all involved in the project are working without a break to ensure that Wednesday becomes truly a memorable day in the history of the country.