Heena Sharma Blog

NASA is analysing, validating and reviewing the images clicked by its lunar orbiter of the area on the Moon where India's Chandrayaan-2 mission made an unsuccessful attempt to soft land its Vikram module, according to a media report that quoted a project scientist of the US space agency. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has snapped a series of images during its flyby on September 17 of Vikram's attempted landing sight near the Moon's uncharted south pole. LRO deputy project scientist John Keller shared a NASA statement confirming that the orbiter's camera captured the images. "The LROC team will analyse these new images and compare them to previous images to see if the lander is visible (it may be in shadow or outside the imaged area)," Keller was quoted as saying in the statement by cnet.com. NASA is validating, analysing and reviewing the images. It was near lunar dusk when the orbiter passed over, meaning large parts o...

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said that it was yet to establish any communication with Chandrayaan-2 's lander, Vikram. On September 7, minutes before landing, Vikram, which was carrying a rover, Pragyan, went out of contact during its final descent, when it was just 2.1 km above the lunar surface. "Vikram Lander has been located by the orbiter of Chandrayaan 2, but no communication with it yet. All possible efforts are being made to establish communication with lander," said Isro. While reports claim that the Vikram lander lies on the lunar surface as a single piece, unbroken, and it is in a tilted position following a hard landing, Isro officials did not confirm, stating that they were trying to establish communication with the lander. Chandrayaan-2 comprises an orbiter, lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan). The mission life of the lander and rover is one lunar day, which is equal to 14 Earth days. Isro Chairman K Sivan earlier said that the...

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. 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 claimed on Monday. "We are making all-out efforts to see whether communication can be re-established with the lander," the official said. "An Isro team is the on the job at IsroTelemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here." Chandrayaan-2 ...

"Let's pray for the successful soft-landing" -- that pretty much sums up the mood at Isro ahead of Saturday's highly crucial event of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. Nervous and anxious for sure, but the city-headquartered space agency is cautiously optimistic of "Vikram" module's soft-landing on the Lunar surface planned in the early hours of Saturday. "Everybody is tight-lipped. I am also tight lipped. Let the event be over", a senior official associated with the mission said on Thursday. "Every body's mind is only on what's happening in the (Chandrayaan-2) spacecraft and lander ('Vikram'). Let's all pray for the successful soft-landing," the official said. Chairman of Isro (Indian Space Research Organisation) K Sivan recently said the space agency "had done everything humanly possible" for the mission's success. Top space scientists have also expressed confidence about the success of th...

In a significant milestone for India's Moon mission , ISRO will fire Chandrayaan 2 's liquid engine on Tuesday to insert the spacecraft into a lunar orbit. "It's tomorrow morning (tentatively between 8.30 am and 9.30 am). It's challenging," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K Sivan told PTI on Monday on the operation to put the spacecraft in an orbit around the Moon. Following this, there will be further four orbit manoeuvres to make the spacecraft enter into its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from Moon's surface, ISRO has said. Subsequently, the Vikram lander will separate from the orbiter on September 2, according to the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency. Two orbit manoeuvres will be performed on the lander before the initiation of powered descent to make a soft landing on the lunar surface on September 7, ISRO said. Chandrayaan 2, launched on July 22 by GSLV MkIII-M1 vehicle, had ent...

The mood was euphoric on Monday at the mission control room of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro’s) Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. At 2.43 pm the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mk III (GSLV-Mk III), carrying the 3.8-tonne Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, lifted off from its launchpad. GSLV-Mk III cost Rs 375 crore and Chandrayaan-2 Rs 603 crore. After a technical snag aborting the takeoff on July 15, the space agency succeeded in putting the satellite on the desired orbit, or a better orbit, as the first step of its 48-day journey to the moon’s unexplored south pole, about 384,000 km away. President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Isro and its scientists on this feat. Before the launch, however, it was a tense situation at the mission control room with former Isro chiefs A S Kiran Kumar and K Radhakrishnan, among others, watching the proceedings from the gallery. There was no lighthearted conversation as t...

Days after its scheduled take-off had to be postponed due to a technical glitch, India's second mission to the Moon — Chandrayaan-2 — is now confirmed to be launched on Monday (July 22). "Chandrayaan-2 launch, which was put off due to a technical snag on July 15, 2019, is now rescheduled for 2:43 pm IST on Monday, July 22, 2019," said an Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) official. Chandrayaan-2 was originally scheduled to take off in the first week of January but was rescheduled for 2:50 am on July 15. It had to again be postponed after a snag was observed in its most powerful rocket, less than an hour before its launch from a spaceport. Isro scientists had put the launch on hold to assess the seriousness of the problem with the heavylift rocket GSLV Mk-III rocket carrying the satellite that put a halt to the ambitious Rs 976 crore lunar mission. The lift-off of the three-component spacecraft weighing 3,850 kg and comprising an orbiter, the lander and the...