In historic feat, Vikram soft lands on the moon, live feed delayed
As Chandrayaan-2 “Vikram” lander began a successful manoeuvering for soft landing on the south pole of the moon early on Saturday, the live feed of the historic moment could not be telecast due to breakdown of communication just as the lander was about 2.1 km from the lunar surface around 2.05 am (IST).
At the time of the paper going to press, ISRO chief K Sivan said, “Vikram lander descent was as planned and normal. Performance observed up to altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently communications from lander to ground station was lost. The data is being analysed.”
Later Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who had arrived at the Yelahanka Airbase on Friday night to witness from an ISRO centre in Bengaluru the planned landing of Vikram — addressed the mission scientists and said, “It is not a small achievement, country is proud of you.”
Not only India but the entire world waited with bated breath for the soft-landing of the “Vikram” on the south pole of the lunar surface, the first attempt by any country.
The euphoria was visible among domestic and international scientist community.
Former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger — who flew on Russian space station Mir that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001 for five months — said, “It’s a fantastic mission, everybody should be so excited. And I’m going to be sitting on the edge of my seat. And it’s a privilege for me to be here, lending some expertise to that live broadcast.”
The US space community believes that the landmark mission would help them enrich their understanding of the moon’s geology. The Indian Embassy in Washington arranged a live screening and presentation on Chandrayaan-2’s landing.
Now moon’s south pole is likely to become one of the most important places on the lunar surface, said Space.Com, adding that it will become the southernmost spot on the moon to be visited by a spacecraft. “It will be in completely new terrain,” Brett Denevi, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, told scientific journal Nature.
A few hours after Vikram touches down on the moon, rover “Pragyaan” will emerge from the lander and roll out onto the lunar surface between 5.30 am and 6.30 am.
In a short video, ISRO explained about Pragyaan. The cubical vehicle, exclusively designed for travelling on the moon, is fitted with a solar panel. Two navigation cameras, which could be called as its left and right eye, are mounted on top of it besides an Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, receive and transmit antenna and rocker bogie assembly.
Soon after rolling on the moon soil, Pragyaans battery will be activated to release its solar panel. The scans of the rover will be relayed to Vikram and then earth and it will be processed at mission control for path planning.
Subsequently, instructions for the rovers movement will be transmitted back to it. The six wheels of the rover are attached with “rocker bogie” to overcome obstacles as it moves forward.
