Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter Doing Extremely Well: ISRO Chief Sivan
Catch all the live updates on Chandrayaan-2 mission’s moon landing here.
The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter's ensemble of eight scientific instruments was performing very well and is expected to continue its stellar work for about seven and a half years, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said on Saturday, 21 September.
As the prospects of re-establishing contact with Chandrayaan-2's 'Vikram' lander have virtually ended after the conclusion of 14 Earth days, ISRO said it will take up a study to ascertain what exactly happened to it.
ISRO lost contact with Vikram, which encased the rover, Pragyan in the early hours of 7 September, seconds before touchdown on the lunar surface.
- Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is healthy and safe in the lunar orbit
- ISRO chairman says data is being analysed on why communication was lost in the final moments before landing
- Chandrayaan-2 orbiter to continue to circle the moon for seven years, ISRO said
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)
What Will Happen After Chandrayaan-2 Landing?
Following the landing of 'Vikram', the rover 'Pragyaan' will roll out from the lander between 5:30 am and 6:30 am.
While the 'Pragyaan' will carry out experiments on the lunar surface for a period of one lunar day, which is equal to 14 earth days, the main orbiter will continue its mission for a year.
According to ISRO, the mission objective of Chandrayaan-2 is to develop and demonstrate the key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability, including soft landing and roving on the lunar surface.
On the science front, the mission aims to further expand the knowledge about the moon through a detailed study of its topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and atmosphere, leading to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the moon.
ISRO Tweets Cartoon Ahead of 'Vikram' Landing
Chandrayaan-2 Mission Manifests the Best of Indian Talent: PM Modi
Hours before moon lander 'Vikram' touches down in the lunar south pole region, PM Narendra Modi on Friday said the mission manifests the best of Indian talent and spirit of tenacity.
"Its success will benefit crores of Indians," he said in a series of tweets.
Former ISRO Scientist Explains the Difference Between Chandrayaan 1 and 2
Speaking to ANI ahead of the Chandrayaan-2 mission landing on the moon, former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan said, “Chandrayaan-1, if you compare it with Chandrayaan-2, the basic difference is, here we are doing a soft landing. The former was done by PSLV and here we are using GSLV Mk III, meaning that we have more payload capability.”
PM Modi Reaches Bangalore, to be Accompanied by 60 Students for Live View of Landing
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Bengaluru Airport on Friday evening. PM Modi will soon reach the ISRO centre in Bengaluru tonight, ahead of the landing of Chandrayaan-2 on the moon.
PM Modi will be accompanied by 60 students while witnessing India’s first moon landing.
With Lander Circling Around the Moon, Chandrayaan’s Fate in Couple of Hours
Chandrayaan 2 Landing LIVE: Scientists Gear Up for the Last Crucial Minutes
The scientists at ISRO have geared up for the soft landing of Vikram lander on the South Pole region of the moon.
Visuals from the live feed show a packed ISRO control room, with scientists eagerly waiting for India’s first moon landing.
PM Modi Arrives at ISRO Headquarters, Welcomed by ISRO Chief Sivan
To witness India’s first-ever moon landing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived at the ISRO headquarters. The prime minister was welcomed by ISRO chairman K Sivan, who also briefed the prime minister on the mission’s landing.
Three Minutes to Descent Start
Only three minutes are left for the Vikram lander to begin descent. The lander will land in four stages:
- Rough braking phase
- Navigation control phase
- Fine braking phase
- Terminal descent phase
Vikram Lander Descent Starts, 15 minutes to Touchdown
The Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander has begun its descent towards the surface of the moon. The lander began with the rough braking phase. 15 minutes to touchdown on the south pole of the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-2 Landing LIVE: Vikram 75 Kms From Landing Site
Vikram Lander Completes Rough Braking Phase, Navigation Control Phase Starts
“In about 11 minutes, India will witness history,” the commentator at the ISRO control room said.
The Vikram lander started with the second stage of landing, the navigation control phase.
Chandrayaan-2 at Second Last Stage - The Fine Braking Phase
The Vikram lander, after completing its rough braking and navigation control phases, entered the second last stage, the fine braking stage. The lander will now enter the vertical descent stage, the final stage before touchdown.
Tense Moments at Control Room as ISRO Waits for Signal
While at the fine braking stage, the signal from the Vikram lander was delayed by a few minutes, sending the stress levels inside the control room soaring.
After unsuccessfully waiting for some communication from the lander, Prime Minister Modi was given a brief by ISRO chief K Sivan.
Chandrayaan-2 Landing Live: Lost Contact 2.1 Km from Surface, Sivan Confirms
ISRO Chairman K Sivan said that the space agency lost contact with the Vikram lander when the mission was at an altitude of 2.1 kilometres from the surface.
He said that before that, the lander’s descent was going normally.
Nation is Proud of You: PM Modi to ISRO After Setback
After losing communication with the Chandrayaan-2 mission, PM Modi told the scientists at ISRO that whatever they have achieved is not a small achievement and that the country is proud of them.
No Official Word from ISRO: Planned Press Conference Called Off
ISRO counsellor, Deviprasad Karnik, who came out for an official word from ISRO, said that the space agency has called off the planned press conference, where they were supposed to give official word on the Chandrayaan-2 setback.
He said they are trying to analyse data, if they can get any data from the lander about whether it's operational and is still communicating with the orbiter.
Chandrayaan-2 Landing LIVE: PM Modi to Address Nation at 8 AM
The Indian Space Research Organisation, after losing contact with the Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on the mission’s setback at 8 am on Saturday, 7 September.
Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter Healthy in Lunar Orbit: ISRO
The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is healthy and safe in the Lunar orbit, an ISRO official said after the Vikram lander lost contact with ground stations minutes before the touchdown on Moon's surface early on Saturday, 7 September.
Our Determination to Touch Moon Has Become Even Stronger: PM Modi to ISRO Team
Addressing the ISRO scientists at the space agency’s Bengaluru headquarters on Saturday, 7 September morning, PM Narendra Modi said, “Our determination to touch moon has become even stronger, we came very close but we need to cover more grounds.”
'We Shall Overcome Some Day': President Kovind on Chandrayaan-2 Setback
"Hum honge kamyaab, mann me hai vishwas, poora hai vishwas hum honge kamyaab ek din," this is how President Ram Nath Kovind summed up his thoughts after Chandrayaan-2's moon lander Vikram lost contact with ground stations minutes before touchdown early Saturday, 7 September morning.
Addressing a youth summit organised by a charitable organisation in New Delhi, Kovind said like Swami Vivekananda is a timeless rode model for youths, ISRO Chairman K Sivan and his team will be India's role model in the field of space in the times to come.
"I remember Chandrayaan-2's launch was earlier scheduled on 15 July. I was there in Sriharikota. I saw the massive carrier, "Bahubali", from close proximity. Thereafter, I proceeded to the assembly point," he said.
"What I liked the most was that there were as many women in the engineering team as men," the president said.
Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter to Have Life Span of 7 Years Instead of 1: ISRO
ISRO put up a notification on its website, saying:
‘Chandrayaan-2 mission was a highly complex mission, which represented a significant technological leap compared to the previous missions of ISRO, which brought together an Orbiter, Lander and Rover to explore the unexplored south pole of the Moon.
Since the launch of Chandrayaan-2 on July 22, 2019, not only India but the whole world watched its progress from one phase to the next with great expectations and excitement. This was a unique mission which aimed at studying not just one area of the Moon but all the areas combining the exosphere, the surface as well as the sub-surface of the moon in a single mission.
The Orbiter has already been placed in its intended orbit around the Moon and shall enrich our understanding of the moon’s evolution and mapping of the minerals and water molecules in the Polar Regions, using its eight state-of-the-art scientific instruments.
The Orbiter camera is the highest resolution camera (0.3m) in any lunar mission so far and shall provide high resolution images which will be immensely useful to the global scientific community. The precise launch and mission management has ensured a long life of almost 7 years instead of the planned one year.
The Vikram Lander followed the planned descent trajectory from its orbit of 35 km to just below 2 km above the surface. All the systems and sensors of the Lander functioned excellently until this point and proved many new technologies such as variable thrust propulsion technology used in the Lander.
The success criteria was defined for each and every phase of the mission and till date 90 to 95% of the mission objectives have been accomplished and will continue contribute to Lunar science , notwithstanding the loss of communication with the Lander.’
'Last Phase Not Executed in Right Way': ISRO Chief K Sivan
ISRO Chief K Sivan, while speaking to DD, said that the last phase was not executed in the right way. “In that phase only we lost link with the Lander, and could not establish communication subsequently.”
He further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a source of inspiration and support for them. “His speech gave us motivation. In his speech, the special phrase that I noted was, ‘Science should not be looked for results, but for experiments and experiments will lead to results,'” he added.
‘Will Try to Establish Link for Next 14 Days’: ISRO Chief K Sivan
ISRO Chief K Sivan, while speaking to DD, said that right now, communication with the ‘Vikram’ lander is lost and that they will try to establish a link for the next 14 days.
“In total, the Chandrayaan-2 mission is very close to 100 per cent success,” he added.
Vikram Lander Located, No Communication Yet: ISRO Chief K Sivan
ISRO Chairman K Sivan has said, “We've found the location of Vikram Lander on lunar surface and the orbiter has clicked a thermal image of Lander. But there is no communication yet. We are trying to have contact. It will be communicated soon.”
He also said the planned soft-landing was not successful. “It must have been a hard-landing,” Sivan told PTI.
Asked if the lander was damaged during the hard-landing, he said: That we do not know.
Re-Establishing Contact with Vikram Proving More Difficult with Time: ISRO
ISRO is continuing its efforts to restore a link with Chandrayaan 2's lander 'Vikram', but experts say time is running out and the possibility of re-establishing communication looks "less and less probable."
ISRO chief K Sivan said on Saturday, 7 September that the space agency will try to establish a link with the lander for 14 days. After lander Vikram was located on the lunar surface by Chandrayaan 2's onboard cameras on Sunday, he reiterated that those efforts would continue.
A senior official associated with the mission said, "Progressively... as time goes by... it's difficult(to establish link)."
However, with "right orientation" it can still generate power and recharge batteries with solar panels, he added. "But it looks less and less probable, progressively," the official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
Vikram Lander Did a Hard Landing, Lying on Lunar Surface: ISRO Official
Not losing hope, the Indian Space Research Organisation continued to make all-out efforts to establish link with Chandrayaan-2's 'Vikram' lander, now lying on the lunar surface after a hard-landing, news agency PTI reported on Monday, 9 September.
Vikram, with rover 'Pragyan' housed inside it, hit the lunar surface after communication with the ground-stations was lost during its final descent, just 2.1 km above the lunar surface, in the early hours of Saturday.
"It had a hard-landing very close to the planned (touch-down) site as per the images sent by the on-board camera of the orbiter. The lander is there as a single piece, not broken into pieces. It's in a tilted position," an ISRO official associated with the mission told PTI on Monday, 9 September.
All Possible Efforts Being Made to Establish Communication With Lander: ISRO
ISRO, on Tuesday 10 September officially said that it has located the Vikram lander on the surface of the moon, with the help of the orbiter. The Space Agency said that it is trying to establish communication with the lander.
NASA Sends 'Hello' to Chandrayaan 2's Vikram Lander
Apart from ISRO's efforts to establis communication with the Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander, US's NASA has also sent messages to Vikram, as its part in locating the lander.
NASA Probe to Fly Over Chandrayaan 2 Landing Site, To Reveal New Information
With just a few days left for the 14-day life of Chandrayaan-2's Vikram lander, ISRO's hopes of locating the lander are slowly fading away. To help India's space agency with its efforts, a NASA probe is set to fly over the landing site, in order to reveal new information about the Vikram lander on Tuesday, 17 September, an Indian Express report said.
The probe, called Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO) is also likely to release images of the landing site, the report quoted US media as saying.
“NASA will share any before and after flyover imagery of the area around the targeted Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander landing site to support analysis by the Indian Space Research Organisation,” TIE quoted Noah Petro, the LRO’s project scientist, citing spaceflightnow.com.
'Propelled by Hopes & Dreams of Indians Across the World': ISRO
ISRO took to Twitter to show their gratitude for all the support they have received from Indian across the world.
ISRO Thanks All Indians for Support After it Lost Contact with Lander
ISRO on Tuesday thanked Indians in the country and abroad for the support it received after the space agency lost contact with the lander of the country's second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2, minutes before touchdown on the lunar surface on September 7
"Thank you for standing by us. We will continue to keep going forward propelled by the hopes and dreams of Indians across the world!" ISRO tweeted.
"Thank you for inspiring us to always aim for the sky," the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
The space agency had got support from the entire nation, despite it losing communication with the lander ahead of the touchdown, with people from all walks of life praising ISRO and its scientists for the achievement.
NASA LRO Reportedly Fails to Spot Vikram Lander
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has reportedly failed to spot the Vikram lander on the moon's surface, a report from Space.com said.
According to reports, the LRO's camera instrument clicked images of the landing site on Tuesday, 17 September which NASA will make available soon. The images, however, are reported to not have picked up anything significant since it is near dusk on the lunar surface.
The NASA statement cited by Space.com said that the "local lunar time was near dusk, leading to poor lighting and a challenging imaging environment."
Mark Carreau from Aviation Week was quoted by space.com as saying that the shadows in the area may be obscuring the silent lunar explorer.
A report by CNet said that the US space agency will take another shot at spotting the Vikram lander. It said that the LRO will fly over again on 14 October when lighting conditions are expected to be better.
Chandrayaan Orbiter Doing Extremely Well: Sivan
The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter's ensemble of eight scientific instruments was performing very well and is expected to continue its stellar work for about seven and a half years, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said on Saturday.
As the prospects of re-establishing contact with Chandrayaan-2's 'Vikram' lander have virtually ended after the conclusion of 14 Earth days, ISRO said it will take up a study to ascertain what exactly happened to it.
Sivan told reporters in Bhubaneshwar, "...first, we have to understand what exactly happened to the lander."
"...some of the pictures what we got were excellent and it is going to do a greater amount of science (research)," he added.
Though the orbiter was initially planned for only a year, he said in view of "very optimum mission planning, we are able to get seven and a half years of life time. So we are going to get seven and a half years of science (research) not one year."