India's Moon Exploration Program

[Indx TechStyle]

Jul 18, 2019
CHANDRAYAAN -2 LAUNCH RESCHEDULED ON 22ND JULY, 2019, AT 14:43 HRS

Chandrayaan - 2 launch scheduled on 15th July, 2019 at 2:51hrs was called off due to a technical snag noticed at around one hour before launch. An expert committee was constituted to analyze the issue and suggest remedial action.

The expert committee identified the root cause of the technical snag and all corrective actions are implemented. Thereafter, the system performance is normal.

Chandrayaan - 2 launch is now rescheduled on 22nd July, 2019 at 14:43 hrs from Second launch pad of SDSC, Sriharikota.

 

[IndianHawk]

Jul 18, 2019
CHANDRAYAAN -2 LAUNCH RESCHEDULED ON 22ND JULY, 2019, AT 14:43 HRS

Thank gods it is day time this time. I have yet to get over waking till 2.40 am only to find out that mission is delayed!

Sent from my C103 using Tapatalk

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Thank gods it is day time this time. I have yet to get over waking till 2.40 am only to find out that mission is delayed!

Sent from my C103 using Tapatalk

There are rarely any launches at night and all look spectacular. It'd have been great to watch GSLV MkIII piercing night sky.

Unfortunately, chance gone.

 

[Chinmoy]

There are rarely any launches at night and all look spectacular. It'd have been great to watch GSLV MkIII piercing night sky.

Unfortunately, chance gone.

In a way its good. At night I might have been only able to see the flame once it lifts off. Now I could see the whole thing for atleast few seconds :biggrin2:

Ab TV me dekhte hain na..

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Jul 18, 2019
GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan 2 - Online registration for viewers gallery

Chandrayaan - 2 launch scheduled on July 15, 2019 at 02:51 AM IST was called off, due to technical snag, is now rescheduled on July 22, 2019 at 02:43 PM IST from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.

To witness the launch live from viewer's gallery at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota online registration process will commence from 06 PM IST on July 19, 2019.

Online Registration to witness GSLV MkIII-M1 / Chandrayaan2 Mission

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Chandrayaan-2 landing likely on September 6-7; launch on July 22

BENGALURU: Notwithstanding the last-minute scrubbing of Chandrayaan-2 launch on July 15, Isro may still be able to soft-land Vikram (lander) on the same day as it had initially planned —September 6-7.

“There may be a slight change in strategy, but it won’t affect the actual day of landing,” a senior scientist associated with the mission told TOI on Thursday.

Four days after the cancellation of the first scheduled launch, Isro said: “Chandrayaan-2 launch is rescheduled on July 22 at 2:43pm.”

TOI first reported on July 15 that then new launch date could be on July 22. An expert committee constituted to analyse the issue—the July 15 launch was cancelled after a leak in the cryogenic stage of the launch vehicle was detected—has suggested remedial action, which has been implemented.

Sources said that the new launch date was finalised late Wednesday. “The committee identified the root cause of the snag and corrective actions are implemented,” Isro said.

‘Buffer Time Around Moon’

The agency will be able to achieve the landing on September 6-7 as its initial plan included a “buffer” time around Moon for two reasons: First, to give itself a second chance in case of hiccups that pushed the launch from July 15.

“This was key to keep time for a relaunch and still carry out the mission without too many changes in the profile and software,” a source said.

And second, because July 15 was the longest launch window (10 minutes), which Isro felt was the best day for launch, which gave the agency additional days around Moon before the lander separation procedure.

If it was launched on July 15, the spacecraft would have reached Moon in 22 days, after which it would go around Moon for 28 days before Vikram’s separation from the orbiter and then Vikram would go around Moon for four days before finally soft-landing.

“Now, nothing in the initial approach is changing. We’ll still take 22 days to insert Chandrayaan-2 into the lunar orbit because we need 17 days around Earth for five orbit raising manoeuvres, and then five days for the lunarcraft to travel close to Moon,” a senior scientist explained.

Also, the number of days Vikram needs to go around Moon in a 30kmX100km orbit before initiating deboosting procedures for landing will also be the same as planned initially—four days.

The only thing that will change is the number of days the spacecraft goes around Moon before lander separation. According to initial plans, the spacecraft was to go around in a 100kmX100km orbit for 28 days before separation, and now it will go around for 21 days.

“Technically, the separation could have happened even after just one day of lunar insertion. The reason the orbiter had 28 days as per the first plan was because the July 15 window meant we reached there much earlier than the most suited day for landing (September 6-7), which gives us 14 full days (1 lunar day) on Moon,” the scientist explained.

“Now, we will reach Moon about seven days later than the initial plan, but still in 22 days from launch. And yet, we have enough time left for landing on the same date,” the scientist added.

So, the total number of days of the mission will be reduced from 54 days to 47 days. A shorter launch window on July 22—Isro chairman K Sivan had on June 12 said that all days of July after the 15th will only have one minute—another senior scientist said, won’t be a “problem”.

“You don’t need to worry about the length of the launch window. Look at the last 20 missions and you’ll know that we’ve launched on the dot. So the length of the window shouldn’t be a concern even now,” a scientist said.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Jul 20, 2019
GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan-2 - Update: Launch rehearsal completed, performance normal

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Jul 21, 2019
The launch countdown of GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan-2 commenced today at 1843 Hrs IST. The launch is scheduled at 1443 Hrs IST on July 22, 2019.

 

[happylion]

UH25 (fuel) filling of liquid core stage (L110) of #GSLVMkIII-M1 completed Updates to continue...

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Jul 21, 2019 : GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan-2: UH25 (fuel) filling of liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV MkIII-M1 completed

Jul 22, 2019
GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan-2: Filling of N204 for the Liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV MkIII-M1 commenced

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Watch Live Launch of GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan2 on July 22, 2019 from 14:15 hrs IST onwards

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Watch Live: Launch of Chandrayaan-2

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Jul 22, 2019
GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan-2: Filling of N204 for the Liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV MkIII-M1 completed today(22-07-2019) at 0240 hrs IST

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Jul 22, 2019
GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan 2: Filling of liquid oxygen in Cryogenic stage(C25) of GSLV MkIII-M1 commenced.
Read more about Chandrayaan-2 updates

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Jul 22, 2019
GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan 2: Filling of liquid Hydrogen in Cryogenic stage(C25) of GSLV MkIII-M1 commenced.

 

[Holy Triad]

Retired URSC director explains,how the rovers had been tested:

Chandrayaan-2 rover-lander was tested on ‘moon surface’ created with soil from Tamil Nadu


The Indian space agency has done some hard work on the ground so that its moon lander — Vikram — can soft-land safely and rover — Pragyaan — can move around, said a senior retired official. “The surface of the earth and that of the moon are entirely different. So we had to create an artificial moon surface and test our rover and lander,” M. Annadurai, who retired as Director, U.R. Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), formerly ISRO Satellite Centre told IANS. The moon’s surface is covered with craters, rocks and dust and its soil is of different texture as compared to earth.


Annadurai said the legs of lander and wheels of the rover had to be tested before their flight. While moonlight dinners are known for human beings, Indian space agency created a moonlight environment for testing its rover.Importing lunar soil-like substance from the US was a costly affair and ISRO looked for a local solution as its need was about 60/70 ton of soil. Many geologists had told ISRO that near Salem in Tamil Nadu there were “anorthosite” rocks that would be similar to features of moon soil or regolith. The ISRO finalised to take the “anorthosite” rocks from Sithampoondi and Kunnamalai villages in Tamil Nadu for moon soil.


According to Annadurai, the rocks were crushed to the required size and moved to Bengaluru where its Lunar Terrain Test Facility was located and the testbed created. “Initially a sum of Rs 25 crore was budgeted for the purpose but it came down drastically as the service providers did not charge us,” Annadurai said.

Artificial lighting was also set up to resemble the Sun-lit environment on the moon. “Initially the rover was of four-wheel configuration.

But we changed to six-wheel configuration after experiments to give it more stability. Some changes were made to the wheel size as well,” Annadurai recalled. He said helium balloons were used to reduce the weight of the rover to simulate the moon’s gravity which is less than that of the Earth’s. The communication compatibility of rover and the lander were checked at HAL’s facility, Annadurai said. In order to test the lander, a testbed was created at ISRO’s facility at Challakere in Chitradurga district in Karnataka. Artificial moon craters were created at Challakere, similar to the site where lander Vikram will set down its legs. Prior to its soft-landing, Vikram’s sensors would check whether the terrain is safe to land. Even after landing if the terrain is not suitable then the lander will go up and settle down at a nearby spot. “We put the sensors in the small plane belonging to NRSC (National Remote Sensing Centre) and flew it over the testbed couple of times to check the sensors as to whether it can read the terrain properly,” Annadurai said. Other space agencies too, build such terrain facilities to test their equipment so that when the lander actually lands on the moon it does not topple.


According to him, the actuators of the lander were tested at ISRO centre at Mahendragiri and the thrusters were also tested. The strength of the lander legs was also tested in two ways-falling when the engines were switched off and in a calibrated landing. The legs have to absorb the landing shock, he added. The landing process is divided into “rough braking” and “fine braking”. The descent trajectory of Vikram has to take into account the variation in local gravity.
Further the landing site, landscape features should not result in a communication shadow area. The next challenge is the moon dust. The moon’s surface is covered with craters, rocks and dust. Firing the onboard motors close to the surface will result in backward flow of hot gases and miniscule, hard/barbed/jagged dust. Its negative charge makes it stick to most surfaces, causing a disruption in deployment mechanisms, solar panel and sensor performance.

idrw.org .Read more at India No 1 Defence News Website https://idrw.org/chandrayaan-2-rove...on-surface-created-with-soil-from-tamil-nadu/ .

 

[Srinivas_K]

All the Best ISRO !!!!

Proud of you.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Jul 22, 2019
GSLV MkIII-M1/Chandrayaan2: Filling of Liquid Oxygen in cryogenic stage(C25) of GSLV MkIII-M1 Completed

 

[Indx TechStyle]

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[ssg_slayer]

Good Luck to all of us and ISRO!
Om Ganeshaye Namah!