In September 2019, during the Chandrayaan-2 mission the lander ‘Vikram’ crashed on the lunar surface. India’s mission Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Lander When the lander was just 2 kilometers away from the surface of the Moon, and its contact with the Earth’s control room was lost. The hard work of ISRO scientists was also answered at the last moment. ISRO scientists had made preparations after hard work for landing in Mission Moon, but India’s first attempt to land on the moon land failed.
Why was the failed Chandrayaan 2 mission necessary for India?
The lander (Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Lander) was about to touch the South Pole at a distance of just 2 kilometers from the surface of the moon when it crashed. If the lander ‘Vikram’ had touched the surface of the moon, then India would have been included in the list of four countries that have successfully landed their vehicles on the lunar surface.
If we look at all the powerful countries of the world, so far only America, China and Russia have succeeded in this. Even before the start of this mission, it was told that the last 15 minutes of landing are going to be very important. And in this the success of the mission will depend.
The failed Chandrayaan 2 mission was a must for India. Because India is the first country to send a vehicle to the South Pole of the Moon. This is because most of the missions to the moon have landed near its equator. Also 41 percent of the landings on the moon have been successful so far.
The process of landing the lander Vikram on the lunar surface started at around 1.38 pm and at 1:44 pm the lander Vikram had also crossed the rough braking phase.
The lander was to be first detached from the orbiter in the moon’s orbit and moved towards the surface of the moon.
But, Chandrayaan-2 (Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Lander) had reached in the final phase of landing on the moon at around 1:52 pm, but after that the contact of Chandrayaan was lost with the station on Earth.
Role of Pragyan Rover
There was also a rover named Pragyan inside the lander, which had to come out after the lander safely landed and conduct scientific investigations on the surface of the moon.
Shortly after the unsuccessful mission, ISRO engineer Shanmuga Sibramanian discovered the lander Vikram on the surface of the moon after looking at the pictures of the US space agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). What was seen in the pictures was believed to be Vikram’s debris. In the pictures of LRO, Shan has again discovered that even though the landing of Vikram Lander was not as desired, it is possible that Chandrayaan-2’s rover Pragyan (Pragyan Rover) safely stepped on the surface of the moon. was.
What was the importance of this Chandrayaan 2 Moon mission?
If the sensors of India’s Pragyan rover could find evidence of water from the huge craters in the south polar region of the moon, it would have been a huge and important discovery.
The success of the Chandrayaan-2 mission could also prove to be helpful for NASA. Who is working on a plan to send a mission to the South Pole of the Moon in 2024.
History of Chandrayaan 1
Prior to this mission, on 22 October 2008, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) launched its first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
India’s first lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 was launched by ISRO using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
The aim was to survey the lunar surface over a period of two years, to produce a complete map of the chemical composition and three-dimensional topography on the surface.
After almost a year, Chandrayaan-1 stopped communicating at around 20:00 UTC on 28 August 2009 due to a number of technical glitches in the orbiter, shortly after which ISRO officially announced that it would launch the mission (Chandrayaan-1). ) Is finished.
In March 2017, the ‘lost’ Chandrayaan-1 was found by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California in a lunar orbit about 200 km from the lunar surface.
India’s Next mission after Chandrayaan 2
ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) has planned to launch Chandrayaan-3 (C-3) in the month of June by next year. This mission (Chandrayaan-3 and ISRO Mission) is a very important mission in the future to explore the surface of the moon. Apart from this, the organization is also preparing to conduct the first test of “abort mission” for the country’s first manned spacecraft ‘Gaganyaan’ early next year. Under Gaganyaan-1, India will send humans to space for the first time. This mission will also be the biggest and important in the next mission because it is also a huge challenge to take the astronauts and bring them back safely. However, ISRO has been able to make it a success. ISRO chief S. Talking to the media, Somnath said that “Chandrayaan-3′ mission will be launched in the month of June next year through vehicle Mark-3.
After the success of the “Abort Mission” and the unmanned test flight, ISRO also plans to send Indian astronauts to the space orbit by the end of 2024.