Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 21: Even as the Indian Space Research Organisation is getting ready for the expected touch-down of the Lander Module on the evening of Wednesday, the possibility of the eventual moment be postponed by four days cannot be ruled out.
Ahead of Chandrayaan-3’s soft-landing on the far side of lunar surface little after 6 PM on Wednesday, a senior scientist at the Space Application Centre (SAC) said on Monday that the ISRO would go ahead with the landing only if conditions on the day were are favourable; otherwise, a fresh attempt would be made on August 27.
“Two hours before Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon, we will take a decision on whether or not it will be appropriate to land it at that time based on the health of the lander module and the conditions on the Moon. In case, if any factor appears to be not favourable, then we will land the module on the Moon on August 27,” the SAC scientist said. He, however, expressed the confidence that considering the latest situation, Vikram could be landed as per schedule on Wednesday.
According to ISRO, Vikram’s landing will be attempted a little after 6pm on August 23; if successful, India will enter an elite list, becoming only the fourth country to achieve a soft-landing on the Moon, joining the United States, Russia, and China and the first country to achieve a soft-landing on the Moon’s south pole. Chandrayaan-3 took off from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDCC) in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14.
The ISRO said on Monday that it has established a two-way communication with the orbiter of the mission’s predecessor. Though the lander of Chandrayaan-2 mission was lost, PRADAN, the orbiter, is currently in a 100 km x 100 km orbit around the Moon. In a post on X, ISRO said the orbiter sent a welcome message to lander Vikram, which is attempting to land on the far side of the Moon.
“‘Welcome, buddy!’ Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM. Two-way communication between the two is established. MOX has now more routes to reach the LM,” the space agency said in its post. Chandrayaan-3 Mission: ‘Welcome, buddy!’ Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM.
Two-way communication between the two is established. MOX has now more routes to reach the LM,” ISRO said.
Ahead of the touchdown, Vikram has sent images of Moon’s craters on the unexplored lunar South Pole region, which always faces away from the Earth. The images, captured last Saturday, identified the craters: Hayn, Boss L, Mare Humboldtianum, and Bel’kovich. They have been shared by ISRO on the social media platform.
Former ISRO chief and in-charge of the previous lunar mission Chandrayaan-2, K Sivan, on Monday said the mission will be a “grand success.” “It’s a very anxious moment…I’m sure that this time it will be a grand success,” Sivan said.
An aerospace scientist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, expressed the confidence that even if things went wrong, Vikram would safely land on the Moon. Pointing out that a lot of improvements have been done after Chandrayaan-2’s failure, “there is absolutely no doubt that it will land safely.” “Chandrayaan-2 failed as the Vikram lander could not control its speed and it tumbled…There was an algorithm failure, which has now been corrected. Vikram Landers legs are more robust now,” the scientist said. The scientist was involved with the launch of both Chandrayaan-2 and 3. The Aerospace department of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, is also contributing to the moon mission.