Chandrayaan-2 data released by ISRO: all you need to know.
Key points:
- Isro also stated that the spacecraft was ‘safe’ upon completion of one year of the orbiter being in space.
- Chandrayaan-2, identified as Isro’s most complex project ever, cost lesser than half the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Avengers the Endgame’ budget.
- The lander of Chandrayaan 2, ‘Vikram’ were named just after physicist Dr Vikram Sarabhai.
The very first range of data from its eight instruments onboard India’s second Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission has been published by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). On July 22, 2019, the orbiter, which had spent sixteen months in lunar orbit throughout the earth, was launched and placed into lunar orbit around August 20.
As ISRO stated:
Isro also stated that the spacecraft was ‘safe’ upon completion of one year of the orbiter being in space, subsystem output was normal, as well as there was enough onboard fuel to maintain operational for around seven years.
Here is all that you have to know regarding the orbiter:
1.Chandrayaan-2, identified as Isro’s most complex project ever, cost lesser than half the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Avengers the Endgame’ budget. The cumulative cost of the mission is expected to be US$124 million, while the film has an estimated budget of close to US$356 million.
2. Just after United States, Russia, and China, the project made India the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the Moon.
3. The orbiter would circle around the moon, the Vikram lander to make a smooth landing near the south pole of the moon, as well as the Pragyan rover to explore the lunar surface and examine water ice. Chandrayaan-2 consisted of three missions clubbed along. During the attempted landing in September 2019, the lander, as well as the rover, were lost.
4. The lander of Chandrayaan 2, ‘Vikram’ were named just after physicist Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of India’s space program.
5. Analysis from seven of the eight instruments was obtained by the Indian Space Science Data Centre near Byalalu in Karnataka, where it has been prepared for public release in Planetary Data System 4 (PDS4) format before being technically peer-reviewed. It was then published at https://pradan.issdc.gov.in via the PRADAN portal hosted by ISSDC.
