Monday, September 2, 2019

Chandrayaan 2 lander separates from orbiter

Chandrayaan 2 lander separates from orbiter

New Delhi: In a big day for India’s second mission to moon, the lander-rover on board Chandrayaan-2 separated from the composite module on Monday 2nd September 2019 afternoon. Now, the lander and the orbiter will be controlled separately.

“The Vikram Lander successfully separated from Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter at 1315 hrs IST today. All systems of the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter and lander are healthy,” said a statement from the Indian Space Research Organisation.
The lander and the orbiter are being monitored from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Bylalu, near Bengaluru.
The scientists from ISRO will perform the first of the two deboosting manoeuvres tomorrow between 09:00 and 10:00 am. Both the manoeuvres together will bring the lander-rover to down to a 36x 100 km orbit.
Today’s separation is crucial as this will be the first time that the systems on-board the indigenously developed lander will operate on its own.

“Till the landing is complete, it will be terrifying. Till now, we have not operated the systems on-board the lander, especially the propulsion system. This is the phase, including the powered descent, that we will be doing for the first time. That is why it is critical,” ISRO chairperson K Sivan had said after the spacecraft entered the lunar orbit.

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