On July 22nd, 2019 ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) executed the Chandrayaan-2 Mission to make India the 4th country to dream of an impossible mission. From the take-off of satellite launch vehicle “GSLV-Mark 3” to the day of entering into the orbit of Moon, Chandrayaan-2 mission covered a lot of journey and hopes of 1.37 billion Indian Citizens.
The journey from entering into the moon orbit to landing on it.
- On August 14th, Chandrayaan-2 sent into lunar transfer trajectory.
- On August 20th, came into the orbital area of Moon.
- On September 2nd, lander and rover separated from the orbital.
- On September 6th, the late-night mission of landing on moon surface begins
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- Late-night around 1:40 a.m. Vikram Lander started falling, 30km away from the moon surface, keeping the speed of 6km/sec.
- The Speed of Lander maintained for landing and in distance of 7.4km away from Moon excellent breaking of Lander started.
- At a distance of 2.1km away from the Moon, ISRO lost the connection with Lander.
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#ISRO
The first de-orbit maneuver for #VikramLander of #Chandrayaan2 spacecraft was performed successfully today (September 03, 2019) at 0850 hrs IST.For details please visit https://t.co/K5dS113UJL
Here's view of Control Centre at ISTRAC, Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/Ddeo2URPg5
— ISRO (@isro) September 3, 2019
The Main Task time of 15 minutes
- At an opportune moment, when Vikram was at an altitude of 30 km, ISTRAC engineers gave commands to the five throttleable engines onboard, the Lander to fire.
- The Lander began its descent, performing a series of braking manoeuvres to control its origin and lands softly on the Moon.
- Each of the five throttleable engines had a thrust of 800 Newtons. Vikram decelerated in stages as it comes down towards the Moon’s surface.
Watch Live: Honorable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi Addressing the Nation https://t.co/SAGMyi1Nkp
— ISRO (@isro) September 7, 2019
All about the Chandrayaan-2
The Chandrayaan-2 mission carried 14 payloads. Out of a total of 14 instruments in the composite module, 13 are Indian payloads, and one payload is taken from NASA.
The orbiter, which weighs 2.4 tonnes, is carrying eight instruments. About 100km orbit around the Moon, its terrain-mapping camera and the high-resolution camera can take pictures of the Moon’s surface. Another tool will study the Moon’s exosphere. Indeed, in a huge breakthrough, Chandrayaan-1 had discovered water-ice on the Moon. ISRO chief Sivan described it as “the greatest achievement of the Chandrayaan-1 mission.”
The three Indian instruments are made for conducting experiments on lunar quakes and study the landing sites’ thermo-physical properties — the payload for exploring the Moon’s seismic activity named as Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity. The NASA payload, a last-minute addition, is called Laser Retroreflector Array, to understand the dynamics of the Earth-Moon system and measure the distance from the Lander on the Moon to the earth.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently”- Henry Ford
In a huge disappointment, communications from Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander to ISRO’s ground station here was lost before touchdown. Everyone was waiting for its soft landing on the hitherto unexplored lunar south pole in the early hours of Saturday, September 7th.
Prime Minister @narendramodi consoling @isro chairman K. Sivan this morning at ISRO Space Centre, Bengaluru #Chandrayaan2 pic.twitter.com/eMuc5LAHeg
— Rajat Sharma (@RajatSharmaLive) September 7, 2019
Appraising the scientists after the link was snapped, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Nation is proud of you, be courageous.”
India is proud of our scientists! They’ve given their best and have always made India proud. These are moments to be courageous, and courageous we will be!
Chairman @isro gave updates on Chandrayaan-2. We remain hopeful and will continue working hard on our space programme.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 6, 2019
PM Narendra Modi today at 8 AM, addressed the hardworking space scientists at the ISRO Centre in Bengaluru.
Addressing our hardworking space scientists. Watch. https://t.co/rPRfGBQLJQ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 7, 2019
But what we all should look forward is to set up the plan again and make this mission accomplished. One primary reason to be Proud of is that India has become the 4th nation to plan a task like this, during the dip downtime of economy and development.
But as Edmund Hillary said once, “I will come again and conquer you because as a mountain, you can’t grow, but as a human, I can.” Likewise, ISRO will try again and conquer Moon for sure, not this time but for next, positively.
