posted 06-14-2019 11:17 AM               

Please use this topic to discuss India's Chandraayan-2 mission to send a probe and rover to land at the south pole of the moon.

posted 06-14-2019 11:19 AM               

The Chandrayaan-2 mission aims to deliver a rover to an elevated plane close to the uncharted lunar South Pole on Sept. 6 or 7 and investigate the surface for signs of water and potentially new sources of abundant energy. It's one step in an envisioned progression that includes putting a space station in orbit and — eventually — landing a crew on the moon.

The upcoming moon mission is the most complex ISRO has attempted. Two Chandrayaan modules — an orbiter and a lander — will be stacked together inside a launch vehicle equipped to lift heavy satellites into orbit. A third module, the lunar rover, will roll out on landing and operate for at least 14 days on the surface. It will wander about 1,300 feet, surveying a surface that reaches minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 157 degrees Celsius) in the shadows.

posted 07-14-2019 04:11 PM               

A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at T-56 minute. As a measure of abundant precaution, Chandrayaan 2 launch has been called off for today. Revised launch date will be announced later.

posted 07-18-2019 07:51 AM               

Chandrayaan 2 is ready to take a billion dreams to the Moon — now stronger than ever before! Join us for the launch on Monday — 22 July, 2019 — at 2:43 PM IST.

posted 07-22-2019 07:47 PM               

I know we enacted the Space Act of 2015 to allow mining and profit, but doesn't that go against Article 5 and Article 11 of this agreement?

posted 09-07-2019 05:21 PM               

NASA:

Space is hard. We commend ISRO's attempt to land their Chandrayaan2 mission on the Moon’s South Pole. You have inspired us with your journey and look forward to future opportunities to explore our solar system together.

I want to thank ISRO for doing this landing with millions watching around the world, despite knowing the risks. We continue to encourage all international and commercial explorers to do the same, especially those who — like us — believe in inspiring others to do hard things!

Incredible effort by the ISRO team. Keep going! Step by step.

This mission broke ground in many ways and we congratulate ISRO for all that they achieved. Space is hard. We know that from first hand experience. We also know that you will use this to work even harder and achieve even greater successes down the road.

posted 09-07-2019 05:31 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Buel:
Is it just me or does this really bring home how incredible NASA's achievements over fifty years ago really was?

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posted 09-08-2019 12:24 PM               

"We have found the location of Lander Vikram on lunar surface and orbiter has clicked a thermal image of Lander," K Sivan told ANI over the phone.

However, the ISRO chief underlined that no communication has been established with the Lander yet.

"We are trying to establish a contact. It will be communicated soon," he added.

posted 09-09-2019 08:50 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Headshot:
It is one thing to crash while landing, it is another thing to land successfully, but not communicate with home.

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An interesting point which reminds me of the fate of Beagle 2 on Mars. In that case, it has emerged in recent years that the spacecraft seems to have landed in one piece but failed to establish communications. (Of course, that may have been the result of a harder-than-desired landing). The team who got Beagle 2 onto the surface of Mars seem to have derived satisfaction from knowing that they actually got their spacecraft to its destination. So near, yet so far!

posted 09-18-2019 04:10 PM               

As scheduled, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) on Sept. 17 imaged the intended lunar south pole landing site for India's Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander, but long shadows in the area may be obscuring the silent lunar explorer.

It was near dusk as the region prepares to transition from a two-week lunar day to and equally long lunar night, so shadows covered much of the region and Vikram may not be in the LROC's field of view.

posted 12-02-2019 02:35 PM               

Vikram Lander Found

The Chandrayaan 2 Vikram lander was targeted for a highland smooth plain about 600 kilometers from the south pole; unfortunately the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost contact with their lander shortly before the scheduled touchdown (7 September in India, 6th September in the United States). Despite the loss, getting that close to the surface was an amazing achievement.

Above: Vikram impact point and associated debris field. Green dots indicate spacecraft debris (confirmed or likely). Blue dots are locating disturbed soil, likely where small bits of the spacecraft churned up the regolith. "S" indicates debris identified by Shanmuga Subramanian. (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)

The LROC team released the first mosaic (acquired 17 September) of the site on 26 September and many people have downloaded the mosaic to search for signs of Vikram. Shanmuga Subramanian contacted the LRO project with a positive identification of debris. After receiving this tip the LROC team confirmed the identification by comparing before and after images.

When the images for the first mosaic were acquired the impact point was poorly illuminated and thus not easily identifiable. Two subsequent image sequences were acquired on 14, 15 October and 11 November. The LROC team scoured the surrounding area in these new mosaics and found the impact site (70.8810 degrees S, 22.7840 degrees E, 834 m elevation) and associated debris field. The November mosaic had the best pixel scale (0.7 meter) and lighting conditions (72 degree incidence angle).

Above: Before and after image ratio highlights changes to the surface, impact point is near center of image and stands out due the dark rays and bright outer halo. Note the dark streak and debris about 100 meters to the SSE of the impact point. Diagonal straight lines are uncorrected background artifacts. (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)

The debris first located by Shanmuga is about 750 meters northwest of the main crash site and was a single bright pixel identification in that first mosaic (1.3 meter pixels, 84 degree incidence angle). The November mosaic shows best the impact crater, ray and extensive debris field. The three largest pieces of debris are each about 2x2 pixels and cast a one pixel shadow.

posted 02-22-2022 01:43 PM               

Apollo 11:

Apollo 12: