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. APOLLO ASTRONAUT RECALLS MISSION CONTROL DURING MOON LANDING"The moon is sort of our backyard for training to go to Mars," said Adam Steltzner, NASA's chief engineer responsible for its 2020 mission to Mars. Because of repeated delays, India missed the chance to achieve the first soft landing near the lunar south pole.

Source: Fox News July 15, 2019 01:30 UTC