Chandrayaan-2 Mission: ISRO Scientist Says Extra Brake Thrust Could Be Why Vikram Spiralled Out Of Control
Tuesday, September 10, 2019 IST
There was silence in the room when communication with Vikram lander was lost. India had hoped of becoming the first nation in the world to reach closest to the lunar south pole. But that dream not seems delayed.
![]()
Addressing the media, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said that the space agency lost contact with the Vikram lander when the mission was at an altitude of 2.1 kilometres from the surface of the moon. This has been the turning point in the mission Chandrayaan 2.
Many thought that the lander had too little thrust to come to a halt. A day later, ISRO scientists look at whether Vikram had too much braking thrust, which spun it out of control.
"We thought one of the thrusters may have underperformed," said an Isro scientist. "But after some preliminary analysis, it looks like a thruster overperformed." Descending from its orbit 30km from the moon, Vikram had achieved perfect roughbraking for 10 minutes, reducing its velocity from 1,680 metres per second to 146 metres per second. This news of the mission Chandrayaan 2 has been keeping our hopes high.
Soon after the fine-braking that signalled Vikram’s last five-km descent to the Moon, mission control lost contact with the lander. ISRO said that the data was still being analysed.
However, a scientist told The Times Of India, “Vikram's legs were to be horizontal during the rough braking and had to be rotated by 90 degrees to bring them vertical to the landing surface before fine-braking. At this point, the thrust might have been more than optimal, impacting the lander's orientation. It's like a car losing direction due to sudden braking at high speed."
After the communication was lost, ISRO chief K Sivan broke down in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he was leaving the ISRO center in Bengaluru. The inconsolable senior scientist was hugged by the Prime Minister. Chandrayaan 2 is considered as one of the most complex mission in the history.
It was the saddest moment for all Indians!
Related Topics
Trending News & Articles
More in National