The primary mission of the Chandrayaan-2 was to demonstrate the smooth landing of the ‘Vikram’ lander on the South Pole of the Moon, to operate the robotic rover Pragyan on the lunar surface, and get exciting images and data from there.
On 7th September, during the last minutes of its descent, the communication link snapped with Vikram when it was about 2.1 kms away from the surface of the moon. After three days, ISRO confirmed the sighting of Vikram through images beamed by the Orbiter.
ISRO Chief K Sivan said that the lander was found in a tilted position and that it was not broken. Keeping alive the hopes, he also said that efforts are being made to restore the link with the lander. The window of opportunity was said to be of 14 days, which was one Lunar Day, and ended on September 21.
SO close yet so far..
While it was a clear case of ‘so close, yet so far’ for the Indian space scientists, the ISRO claimed that the mission was 90 to 95 % successful, and this was also backed by Madhavan Nair, the former Chairman of the Indian space agency, under whose supervision the mission was laid.
After initial hiccups with the launch, the ISRO achieved success when theGSLV MK-3 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) propelled the payload into the destined orbit smoothly on July 22 and that was an amazing achievement.
Next, it managed a series of neatly executed manoeuvres, all of which went smoothly, and the Orbiter reached the Moon’s orbit on August 20 as planned and the second level was achieved!.
The third and the crucial phase of the Soft landing on the Moon turned into a hard landing and that was heart breaking for the nation.
Bouncing Back
In this background, though the 2nd shot at the Moon took a decade, the ISRO was well prepared for it.
Confidence was so high that for the launch on July 15, President Ramnath Kovind was also invited. However, at the last hour of countdown, a glitch was observed and the mission was postponed right away. To ISRO’s credit, it showed much boldness in postponing despite the President’s presence.
Moreover, it bounced back quickly to plug the leak issue and gave a fresh date for July 22, exactly a week later.
The performance of the GSLV MK-3 was remarkable and it boosted India’s launch capabilities and interplanetary missions in future.
Given that the mission was highly complex and unique, with several key technologies involved and studying entire Moon, the ISRO has done a commendable job in achieving success in two of the three phases, while almost (90-95%) succeeding in the final phase also.
Whether it is 95 per cent or two of the three phases of success, the organisation will surely go back and fix the issues. Its record, starting from the Satellite Launch Vehicle in 1979 to the GSLV, has been exceptional in bouncing back from failures by learning very well from them, and achieving mission success at highly competitive costs and improved performances and that is what inspires us about them.
Already, the Chandrayaan-2 Mission has achieved many efficiencies in its each phase, which has become beneficial by itself. The best example of this is the more enhanced life of the Orbiter , which will last nearly 7 years, compared to the expected one year.
ISRO’s next Chandrayaan Mission is at least five years away and it will be a joint venture with Japan, as informed by the Space Agency.