We waited with bated breaths to watch Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram and rover to land on the near side of the moon. We were left teary-eyed when the mission wasn’t successful on the said date. And when we witnessed Prime Minister Modi consoling the Chief of Indian Space Research Organisation, K Sivan our hearts melted for him. Nevertheless, ISRO Chief K Sivan and his team have been ambitious and determined. And now ISRO has announced plans for Chandrayaan-3 and other space missions slated for the upcoming years.
Chandrayaan-3 And Other Space Missions
On Wednesday, ISRO Chief has announced that Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission has been approved by the government and is on. And the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission will be slated to launch in 2021. K Sivan also stated that the configuration of the Chandrayaan-3, will be similar to its predecessor, the Chandrayaan-2. So the Chandrayaan 3 will also have a lander, rover and a propulsion module. During the press conference, K Sivan added that all activities related to the Chandrayaan-3 are going on smoothly. And it will not hinder other satellite programs. ISRO Chief, K Sivan even mentioned that more than 25 space missions will take place this year.
The interesting tidbit is, that Chandrayaan-3 might be landing on the very same location as that of Chandrayaan-2, where the lander of this crash-landed on the surface of the moon, moments before it was supposed to soft-land. These ISRO plans were revealed by K Sivan. He also threw light about the cost of the upcoming third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3. He stated that the lander and rover for this will cost an estimated amount of ₹250 crores. The entire cost of the mission will be ₹250 crores plus ₹365 crores. The Chandrayaan-2 mission cost ₹960 crores.
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ISRO Chief, K Sivan spoke about the preparations for the Gaganyaan mission which are taking place simultaneously with the Chandrayaan-3 mission. For those of you who don’t know, Gangayan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft that which is built to send 3 astronauts to space for around seven days by 2022. This will be done as a part of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. ISRO is developing this spacecraft which consists of a crew module and service module and collectively referred to as the Orbital Module. Did you know India To Get Its Own GPS Navigator Called NavIC By 2020?
Possible Reasons For Crash Landing Of Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram Lander
During this press conference, K Sivan also got talking regarding the possible reasons for the crash landing of the Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram Lander. He stated that while the rough breaking phase went as per the plan, the velocity wasn’t reduced in the second phase, which resulted in the lander going out of control in the third phase, leading to a hard landing, rather than a soft-landing. The Vikram lander was scheduled to land on the near side of the Moon in the south polar region on September 6th last year. It was supposed to conduct scientific experiments for one lunar day which approximates to two Earth weeks. But unfortunately, it deviated from it lost communication due to its deviation from the trajectory. If Vikram lander did soft-land that day, it would have made India the fourth country to do this after USSR, the USA and China. If you are intrigued by space, then Now You’ll Be Able To Stay At Hotels That Float In Space
Union Minister, Jitendra Singh stated that it’s wrong to term Chandrayaan-2 as a disappointment. It was India’s first attempt to land on the lunar surface, and no country could have done it in the first attempt as well. And it cannot be disregarded as a failure, as there was a lot of learnings from it. He gave examples of the USA who took several attempts to land successfully. But he did state, that they wouldn’t need so many attempts. And when it comes to the upcoming Chandrayaan-3 mission, he said it will be launched in 2020. He further added that it costs less than Chandrayaan-2. The experience and infrastructure collected from Chandrayaan-2 will bring down the cost the Chandrayaan-3. Kudos to ISRO Chief K Sivan and the team of hardworking scientists, who are the pillars behind these space missions. This is the Mission Mangal that we are waiting for this 2020.
First Published: January 03, 2020 11:37 AM