Arun Haryani, an fanatic along with his physique painted in tri-colours, reacts on August 22, 2023 as he holds up a mannequin of LVM3 M4 which was utilized in launching of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the eve of its moon landing.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
As scientists at ISRO gear up for the much-awaited soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the Moon’s floor, the house company may postpone the landing to August 27 within the occasion that health parameters of the lander module are discovered to be “abnormal”, a senior official has mentioned.
ISRO has deliberate the soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft at 06.04 p.m. IST on August 23.
The Moon mission was launched on July 14 at 2.35 p.m. from Sriharikota.
According to ISRO Space Applications Centre Director Nilesh Desai, the main focus of the scientists can be on lowering the velocity of the spacecraft above the lunar floor.
“The lander will try to land on the Moon’s surface from a height of 30km on August 23, and its velocity at that time will be 1.68 km per second. Our focus will be on reducing that speed because the Moon’s gravitational force will also play its part,” he advised PTI in Ahmedabad.
“If we do not control that speed, there will be chances of a crash landing. If any health parameter (of the lander module) is found abnormal on August 23, then we will postpone the landing to August 27,” he mentioned.
Responding to a question, Mr. Desai expressed hope that scientists would attempt to make the lander module land on the lunar floor efficiently.
“The landing begins at 06.04 PM IST. Two hours before that, we will upload the commands. We will do an analysis of the telemetry signal and consider the conditions of the Moon. If any health parameter goes wrong, we will push it to August 27 and will try to land (on that day) if all goes well,” he said.
Observing that the final 17 minutes of the descent of the lander module are “very vital”, he said, “When we start landing, four-engine thrusters will hearth and scale back its velocity.”
“When the lander is at a top of 800 metres from the lunar floor, working on two engines, the velocity will attain zero. From 800 metres to 150 metres, it (lander module) will descend vertically,” he said.
Data collected using the sensors on board the lander module will be very important and, on that basis, the landing site would be chosen, he said.
“We have sensors that might transmit actual details about the velocity and distance of the lander from the Moon’s floor,” he said.
“Planning (safe-landing on the lunar floor) has been carried out retaining varied eventualities in thoughts. We hope to land at 70 diploma latitude safely on the Moon’s South Pole on August 23,” he said.
To another query, he said,” Rather a lot of upgrades have been made this time. Hardware programs are made sturdy. We shall be profitable (in soft landing on the lunar floor).”
In case the mission shifts to August 27, he said, “we have chosen another landing site which is 400 km away from the main landing site.”
Speaking about Russia’s Luna-25 mission that crash landed on the Moon, Mr. Desai mentioned Moscow has lots of sources and regardless of that, they failed.
“They were trying to proceed to the South Pole of the Moon. It is normal to be disappointed (since the mission failed). At ISRO, we have been working to make the Chandrayaan-3 mission a success for the past four years,” he mentioned.
“The previous Chandrayaan-2 mission was a failure during soft landing. We have learned from our mistakes. (This time) we have made a lot of changes and added new sensors,” he mentioned.
He mentioned the scientists carried out lots of subject trials and carried out checks in varied centres of ISRO.
“We are confident this time. We hope to succeed this time. People’s wishes are also with us.” he mentioned.
Earlier within the day, ISRO mentioned the mission is on schedule and it’s easy crusing for the spacecraft.
“The mission is on schedule. Systems are undergoing regular checks. Smooth sailing is continuing,” ISRO mentioned.
Chandrayaan-3 lander module’s soft landing on the lunar floor would put India within the elite membership of international locations which have reached the Moon’s floor — the United States, the erstwhile Soviet Union and China.
