 "Chandrayaan 2 launched: Narendra Modi, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, others congratulate ISRO")
At 02.43 pm IST on 22 July, **ISRO successfully launched** its highly awaited second mission to the Moon — Chandrayaan 2. It was carried aboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III-M1 (GSLV MkIII-M1) rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. As of this afternoon, GSLV MK III successfully injected the Chandrayaan 2 payload into a pre-defined orbit, and it’s now **headed to the moon** where it is expected to **soft-land at the lunar south pole** on 7 September. [caption id=“attachment_6989781” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  Chandrayaan-2 launch will kick off at 2:51 am on 15 July.[/caption] Seconds after launch, Twitter was flooded with congratulatory tweets with posts from the President of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar, and many others. President Ram Nath Kovind shared a four-part tweet congratulating Team ISRO.
The historic launch of #Chandrayaan2 from Sriharikota is a proud moment for all Indians. Congratulations to our scientists and engineers for furthering India's indigenous space programme. May @ISRO continue to master new technologies, and continue to conquer new frontiers
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) July 22, 2019
The Prime Minister too extended his wishes.
Special moments that will be etched in the annals of our glorious history!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 22, 2019
The launch of #Chandrayaan2 illustrates the prowess of our scientists and the determination of 130 crore Indians to scale new frontiers of science.
Every Indian is immensely proud today! pic.twitter.com/v1ETFneij0
Sushma Swaraj salutes India’s space agency…
I salute @Isro scientists for making India a space super power by successfully launching #Chandrayaan2. I wish the mission a grand success.
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 22, 2019
Akshay Kumar was quick to tweet too!
#ISRO has yet again accomplished a mammoth feat. Salute to the team who have spent countless days ensuring the success of #Chandrayaan2 @isro
— Jolly Mishra - Asli Jolly from Kanpur (@akshaykumar) July 22, 2019
Shah Rukh Khan did what he does best… he made the launch a little filmy!
Chaand Taare todh laoon. Saari duniya par main Chhaoon! To do that requires hours & hours of painstaking work & integrity & belief. Congratulations to the team at #ISRO for #Chandrayaan2
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) July 22, 2019
Former cricketer Virendra Sehwag also congratulated ISRO on the ‘seamless launch’.
Many congratulations to Team #Chandrayaan2 @isro for the successful and seamless launch ! pic.twitter.com/LINKS5ZHUk
— Virrender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 22, 2019
…and these tweets are still coming in. After all, it’s a very proud moment!
Our romance with the moon continues ! #Chandrayaan2theMoon congratulations @isro and team ISRO for giving us this historic moment! You go Baahubali!!🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 GODSPEED!
— Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) July 22, 2019
This is HISTORIC! Propelling a billion dreams into the sky. What a proud moment for 🇮🇳 #Chandrayaan2
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) July 22, 2019
I always looked up at the moon as a child, wondering what secrets it's hiding. The successful launch of #Chandrayaan2 will shed some light on these secrets, & motivate the next gen to help India's space exploration programme. I congratulate everyone at @ISRO for this success. pic.twitter.com/xy6aGt0xi3
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) July 22, 2019
#Chandrayaan2 is the outcome of the brilliance and extraordinary commitment of our scientists of @ISRO and also the political will. This phenomenal achievement is the pride of our nation. Just couldn't help being there. A great privilege. Congratulations to all of you. -Sg #ISRO pic.twitter.com/4xr91q29BG
— Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) July 22, 2019
Very proud of @isro and #Chandrayaan2. Hope all goes well. Real-life stories to make you proud.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 22, 2019
Congratulations on #Chandrayaan2. Compliments to the entire team @isro.
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) July 22, 2019
But guess what makes these Twitter reactions even better? YOU!
NASA scientists after watching Indian scientists send a spacecraft on moon in 1/20th cost. #ISRO #Chandrayaan2 pic.twitter.com/a0xQ4ZMGb9
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) July 22, 2019
Meanwhile Akshay and John fighting for the script of #Chandrayaan2 pic.twitter.com/zgV1Q4cGE0
— Baandya (@Bahut_Scope_Hai) July 22, 2019
The $146 million mission will enable India to carry out studies on the presence of water on the south pole of the moon. Only the United States, Russia and China have been on the moon. The rocket, carrying the unmanned Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, blasted off from a southern Indian space centre to cheers from thousands of onlookers, a live telecast showed. The launch had been delayed by a week due to a technical snag.
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