New Delhi:
ISRO, India’s premier space agency, is moving on from the heartbreak of Chandrayaan-2. Latest reports say that the agency is preparing for Chandrayaan-3 to land on Moon by November next year. News Nation tried to speak to ISRO officials on this latest development. The officials said that no final decision has been taken yet and various things are under discussion. However, what gives credence to the November, 2020 launch date is the fact that ISRO officials said that the agency will be ready for another Moon Mission ‘by the end of 2020.’
Chandrayaan 3 will be part of ISRO’s crucial lunar operations. It all started in 2008 when Chandrayaan 1 successfully dropped ‘Moon Impact Probe’ on the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite. Chandrayaan 2, instead of planned soft landing, went for hard landing and landed Vikram lander on lunar surface. News Nation is also privy to information that within ISRO, some senior scientists are not with the decision to go for launch in November.
On September 7, the ISRO’s ambitions to touch down the south pole of the Moon faced a technical glitch after the space agency lost contact from Chandrayaan-2's Vikram lander moments before landing on lunar surface. As soon as the fine braking phase started, the Vikram lander suddenly deviated from its path and stopped sending data back to the ground control.
Launched on July 22, Chandrayaan-2 entered the Moon's orbit on 20 August, a month after take-off. The touchdown of Vikram lander was scheduled between 1:30 am and 2:30 am, followed by the rollout of its rover named ‘Pragyaan’ between 5:30 am and 6.30 am.
Chandrayaan-2 was the most complex mission ever attempted by the India's space agency. Had the landing gone as planned, India would have become the first country to the land a mission on the south pole of the Moon and fourth after US, Russia and China to touchdown the lunar surface.
Also Read: Chandrayaan-2 Sends New Pictures Of Moon's Surface, Check Here
Earlier, ISRO Chief K Sivan had said that Chandrayaan-2 is not the end of the story about the country’s attempts to conquer the moon, and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will attempt another soft landing “in the near future”.
