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Early this morning, the
Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft
, India’s second moon mission, successfully made its way into the moon’s orbit after a four-week sojourn. The Indian Space Research Organisation has called a briefing to share details about what next for the mission after entering the moon’s orbit. Chandrayaan 2 successfully completed a major milestone today by breaking away from the Earth’s orbit and entering the moon’s orbit of influence. This is
one of the few remaining critical milestones
in the mission before the spacecraft attempts a
soft-landing in the moon’s South Polar region on 7 September
. Now that the lunar capture, or entry of the spacecraft into lunar orbit, was completed without a hitch or glitch, the two-week (lunar-bound) phase of the mission begins. This is an important part of the orbiter’s mission: surveilling its year-long home for the first time, ensuring that no damage was caused to its instruments on the journey thus far, and a thorough examination of the Vikram lander’s landing site at the moon’s South Polar region. [caption id=“attachment_7161041” align=“alignnone”]
An illustration of the orbit-raising to lunar transfer transition of the Chandryaan 2 spacecraft. Image: ISRO[/caption] Chandrayaan 2 is expected to make its
long-awaited powered descent and landing
on 7 September in what the ISRO Chief describes as ‘
15 minutes of terror
’. While subsequent events in the mission won’t be streamed live, you can catch live updates on the mission on our dedicated
Chandrayaan 2 domain
, our
Twitter page
,
ISRO’s website
, or
Twitter page
.
Chandrayaan 2 LIVE Updates: New method of controlling thrusters will be used during soft-landing
The mission is expected to land at 1.55am IST on the morning of 7 September, says the Chairman.
)
Will ISRO try to operate the lander & rover after the long, lunar night?
After the 14-day lunar day, during which time the lander and rover will carry out their missions, the lunar night could leave both instruments damaged due to the extreme, continuous exposure to frigid lunar temperatures. The spacecraft will likely NOT survive it, but if it does… the solar cells will charge up the instruments and we have left a battery backup for such an occasion. If we’re lucky, they will survive it, but it cannot be guaranteed, the chairman said.
Lander to brake gradually, land after multiple manoeuvers in orbit
After separation from the orbiter, the Vikram lander will be maneuvered multiple times as it is slowed in stages and its orbit lowered with each maneuver.
Check out Dr Sivan taking a model of Chandrayaan 2 for a spin!
When will get the first data from the Pragyan rover?
Even as the rover rolls out on to the surface, the rover’s external camera will be active, Dr K Sivan says. The scientific data, however, will only come through about 5.8 hours after the landing, he added.
How ISRO plans to get around the moon dust problem
To get around the sharp, jagged-edged dust blowing up from the surface of the moon during landing, all the engines except one (the main) engine will be switched off. The engine that will stay on will only push the dust horizontally, thereby keeping the spacecraft risk-free in this regard.
Soft-landing will use a new configuration & means of operating thrusters
Separation from orbiter isn’t a crucial part of the mission.
For the Vikram lander to land softly in a controlled manner, and will use a new technique, with throttlable control over the engine’s thrusters. This is something ISRO is attempting for the first time, says the chairman.
Communication link doubles as 2-way health-check
The lander and orbiter both have independent communication links with the deep space network (DSN). Any action from the orbiter will be communicated to the lander and vice versa. Whether it’s health of an instrument or progress on the mission, we will be assured of the health of both components this way.
‘World is eager for data from Chandrayaan 2’
“The landing site in the South polar region is somewhere no mission has previously been, the world is eager to know what the mission will find here,” says the chairman. The water and mineral deposits in the region are particularly interesting, he added.
Only 37% of missions attempting a lunar soft-landing have succeeded — what is ISRO doing differently?
We’re learning from past failures, and adding more and more valuable input. In the years since some of the earliest missions. From the Israel Beresheet landing, we learnt that the landing needs to be largely, if not completely, autonomous (i.e. controlled by the spacecraft without live input from ISRO engineers).
Stepping away briefly from Chandrayaan 2
Asked about the SSLV project, Dr Sivan shared that ISRO will attempt to launch the first SSLV mission in December this year.
“We’re confident that we’ve done our best”
The soft-landing is the one aspect of the mission we have never attempted. It will be difficult, says Dr K Sivan. At the system levels, sensor level and sub-system level, we’ve done everything possible at our end to ensure the mission’s success.
First photos from the mission
The first images from the mission can be expected around 5.5 hours after the landing, says the Chairman.
Control over the soft-landing
If the landing surface is sloped, the spacecraft could topple. The same for boulders. The decision on a good spot to land won’t be made by ISRO engineers, but by Chandrayaan 2’s autonomous landing systems.
What’s next?
From 2nd September, all eyes will be on the lander. Much like the bridegroom at a wedding, Dr Sivan says. On 3rd and 4th September, the first maps of the landing site will be created to ensure the landing site is as safe as previously thought to make a soft-landing.
The soft-landing itself is expected to begin at 1.40am on 7 September. Touchdown is expected at 1.55am, the Chairman announces.
What’s next?
The next lunar burn will be tomorrow around 1pm, followed by 3 more manoeuvers on 30th, 31st August & 1st September to bring down the orbital altitude of Chandrayaan 2 in preperation for landing.
The Chairman reviewed the mission’s milestones so far, and points out the enormous accuracy required to make a soft-landing. “Out of 10.5cm/sec, if there’s a one-second blunder in the mission, the spacecraft will miss the landing site by 7 degrees,” he said.
Yikes!
Here’s a look at what the mission is about, and why ISRO is specifically targeting a region near the South Pole for its landing site.
(Clue: Treasure hunt!)
Now that ISRO has its own YouTube channel, you can watch the briefing live via the embedded video link here.
Today’s success is one of very few remaining critical milestones before the spacecraft attempts to soft-land in the moon’s South Polar region on 7 September.
Here’s a step-by-step look at the Chandrayaan 2 mission so far and what’s still to come .
ISRO confirmed as much in a tweet ~half an hour ago!
Hello all,
We’re eagerly waiting to hear from the Chairman of ISRO today after the great news we heard this morning!