Chandrayaan 2: A Feat Second to None!

Chandrayaan 2: A Feat Second to None!

Arriving at a huge chunk of rock orbiting around our planet at nearly 3683 kmph (nearly three times the speed of sound) and traveling a distance of nearly 4 lakh km, is in itself a feat no less. Yes, the arrival Chandrayaan 2 at our beloved moon is indeed a success. A part of the mission, the lander which would have eventually rolled out rover, has failed (as far as we know now). The initial reports suggest of a crash landing (yes, we have landed in principle, hard landed). But equally important but not widely talked about is that the orbiter will orbit the moon for years to come, with a minimum expected lifetime of a year. The orbiter hosts a range of scientific instruments on board that would study from lunar exosphere to ionosphere to 3D lunar mapping (which includes the south polar region) to the presence of certain elements, minerals on the moon's surface by studying the rays they emit after the sun's rays hit them.

However, one of the most important objectives of the Chandrayaan 2 mission is detecting the presence of water, particularly around the south polar region which will be accomplished by an instrument called imaging IR spectrometer (IIRS) which is aboard the orbiter. The orbiter is in a polar orbit moving from the north pole to the south pole of the moon at about an altitude of 100 km from the surface.

So, yes, it is a little disappointing, that the lander and rover have failed, but given the magnitude of the task that was at hand, it is a massive accomplishment. We would perfect it in the years to come, and someday the success rate of soft landing on the moon would be as much as reaching the moon!