ISRO Scientists Experience 17 Minutes of Anxiety During Chandrayaan-3 Landing
India’s highly anticipated Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, is scheduled to make a historic landing on the lunar South Pole today, August 23, at 6:04 PM IST. With the recent setback of Russia’s Luna-25 mission, which shared similar aspirations, the world is closely watching India’s progress. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is leading this mission, which aims to accomplish three key objectives: a safe and gentle landing on the lunar surface, showcasing the rover’s mobility, and conducting on-site scientific experiments. However, the success of two of these objectives relies on the Vikram lander’s successful touchdown, which must navigate a nerve-wracking 17-minute window.
Chandrayaan-3: 17 minutes of horror
Speaking to ANI, Director of ISRO’s Space Applications Center (SAC) said that the last 17 minutes before the lander touches the lunar surface are very important and could pose a risk to the soft landing on which the entire mission depends.
During this time, the lander must perform a series of maneuvers, including altitude adjustments, firing the propellers, scanning the surface for obstacles, and more.
Desai said, “We need to after-ignite the thruster so that the lander decelerates to zero when making a soft landing. We have installed four thrusters in the lander module. From an altitude of 30km, the lander descends to 7.5km and then to 6.8km.
A few days ago, ISRO Chairman S Somnath emphasized that reducing its speed from its current altitude of 30 km for final descent is an important part of the mission, as is the ability of the lander to reorient itself from horizontal to vertical.
Next, two of the four engines are turned off as the Moon’s gravity comes into play. The remaining engines are used as reverse thrust for landing. “From 30 kilometers, the speed of the lander drops four times to 350 meters per second at an altitude of 6.8 kilometers,” Desai added.
Vikram then descends until it is only 800 meters from the Moon’s surface and then hovers until it finalizes the landing site. Its Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC) monitors the landing area and checks for possible obstacles in its vicinity.
“The whole process takes 17 minutes and 21 seconds. If the counter moves slightly laterally to land on the appropriate spot, the maximum spot, the time is 17 minutes and 32 seconds. This ’17-minute horror’ is very critical for us,” Desai said.
If all goes well, Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander will land on the lunar surface today, August 23 at 6:04 PM IST. Be sure to watch the live broadcast of Chandrayaan-3 landing.
