Chandrayaan-2 – The 2nd ISRO Lunar Exploration Mission

Mission Objective

Chandrayyan-2 aimed to map and study the variations in the composition of the lunar surface and the location and abundance of its fluids.

Mission Significance 

Demonstrate the capability to achieve a soft landing and effectively operate a robotic rover on the lunar surface.

Mission Components

The Chandrayaan-2 mission stands as a remarkable technological advancement, signifying a substantial leap in ISRO’s capabilities. It unites three components that collaborate to fulfill the main mission of investigating the moon: 

• Orbiter – responsible for communicating with IDSN (Indian Deep Space Network) and the Lander.

• Lander (Vikram) – named after Dr. Vikram A Sarabhai, the founder of the Indian Space Program. It was designed to function for one lunar day (14 Earth days). However, Vikram crashed during this attempt on 6th September 2021.

• Rover (Pragyan) – ‘Pragyan’ is the Sanskrit word for wisdom. The rover was designed to move on six wheels and cross 500m on the lunar surface to conduct raw analyses on-site and deliver the data to Vikram. 

 

 

 

 

Chandrayyan-2’s Main Study Goals

• Examine lunar topography, mineral composition, elemental concentrations, and the lunar exosphere, as well as detect hydroxyl and water ice signatures.
• Investigate the presence of water ice in the southern polar region and measure the depth of the lunar soil surface.
• To chart the lunar landscape and contribute to creating 3D maps of it.

The Vikram Crash Explained 

• On 6th September 2019, nearly two months after lunch, it crashed during landing. During its descent, the lander deviated from its planned trajectory. The trajectory started at 2.1km altitude from the moon’s surface. The communication had been lost before the estimated touchdown. The result was the hard landing of the lander instead of the intended soft landing.
• There were multiple explanations for the crash. The Failure Analysis Committee claims that a software glitch caused it. Either way, the detailed report by the Failure Analysis Committee hasn’t been published.

Ongoing Mission and the complete Overcome 

Although the Lander crashed, the orbiter continued functioning.  It was critical in capturing high-resolution images, conducting in-depth lunar surface studies, and identifying water ice in the Polar Regions. This achievement underscored ISRO’s profound scientific and engineering prowess.

Although Candrayyan-2 couldn’t complete its mission to the fullest, the ISRO chose to praise the successes of this mission. ISRO overcomes the failure by learning its causes carefully to improve for the next round, which happened 4 years later – Chandrayyan-3. 

Name Origin 

From Sanskrit: Chandra – moon; Yana – craft vehicle 

Full meaning: moon craft 

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