Chandrayaan-3: What ISRO learnt from Chandrayaan-2? Ex-chief explains | Latest News India
Two days ahead of Chandrayaan-3’s soft-landing attempt on the Moon, former director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K Sivan on Sunday shared critical lessons that were learned from the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which had failed to achieve its target of soft-landing four years back.
“Last time after the landing process, we had gone through the data…Based on that, some corrective measures were taken. Not only that, we did something more than what we corrected. Wherever the margins are less, we enhanced those margins…Based on the lessons we learnt from Chandrayaan 2, the system is going with more ruggedness…” the ex-ISRO chief told news agency ANI. (Chandrayaan-3 LIVE updates)
What happened to Chandrayaan-2?
Chandrayaan-2 was launched under Sivan’s tenure as ISRO chief in September 2019. The mission had failed in the final stages when Vikram Lander lost communication with the ground state just 2.1 km above the Moon, leaving Indians dejected. Notably, a video of an emotional Sivan being consoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also surfaced then.
Many ISRO scientists, current and former, have expressed their extreme confidence in the success of the ambitious Moon mission, which could chart history on Wednesday. If successful, Chandrayaan-3 would be the first ever mission to land lunar south pole terrain. Additionally, a desired successful soft landing would make India the only fourth nation to have achieved the feat.
‘Chandrayaan-3’s systems strengthened’
Earlier, former ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair had also explained how it was devised by extensively studying the mistakes from the last mission.
Nair had explained that for the efficiency of the current mission, many changes were made to the technical aspects such as thrusters configurations, and the landing gear was further strengthened as well as computer software modified. “…whatever was humanly possible, has been done” to ensure the mission is a success, he had said, adding that ISRO’s track record is to learn from its mistakes and leap towards success and Chandrayaan-3 is that stage.
The mission has three critical objectives including a safe and soft landing on the lunar south pole, demonstrating the Rover roving on its surface and studying its environment. The Vikram Lander module will attempt the first objective on Wednesday evening. It has completed its de-boosting manoeuvre operations and is undergoing internal checks and mapping the Moon’s terrain before the landing, ISRO said Monday.
