India's Surprise Shooting Down Of A Satellite Was A Warm-Up To Its Imminent Mission To Land On Moon

[Cobra Arbok]

Jamie Carter
Contributor
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
I write about science and nature, stargazing and eclipses.Science Editor at New Delhi Television. "Asia is where you will see more missions coming (and) I am very excited about seeing the Indian mission on the near side, and the Chinese mission on the far side, both giving us data that will enhance our understanding of the lunar geology and lunar evolutionary history."

Chandrayaan-2 will look for traces of water near the moon's south pole.

Getty
What is Chandrayaan-2?

A lunar orbiter, lunar lander and lunar rover mission, Chandrayaan-2 will launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on a GSLV Mark III rocket sometime in April (though there have been significant delays so don't rely on it happening during April). Chandrayaan-2 was initially supposed to be a joint mission with Russia but plans changed and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had to construct its own lander. Once that lander and a six-wheeled rover (which is called Vikram) are on the surface, the mission will have just one lunar day (14 Earth days) to do its work. Since all the equipment is solar-powered, that makes it likely that Chandrayaan-2 will land on or near the date of a full moon, possibly May 18 or June 17, 2019.

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Chandrayaan-2 will carry laser retroreflector arrays owned by NASA to help astronomers measure the exact distance between Earth and the Moon.

Why is Chandrayaan-2 so exciting?

Chandrayaan-2 is aiming to land in an area of the moon's near side that is thought to contain water ice, which India's previous moon orbiter Chandrayaan-1 helped detect for the first time in 2008. "This will be the first time any country is attempting to land on the near side of the moon on the south pole," says Bagla. "To date, all landings on the near side of the moon have been in the equatorial region, including all the Apollo missions."

Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned mission to the Moon, is seen as it is unveiled at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Satellite Center in Bangalore, India prior to launch in 2008. (AP Photo/File)

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What did Chandrayaan-1 do?

Chandrayaan-1 orbited the moon for nine months when few had any interest in the moon, but carried an instrument from NASA that provided the first evidence of water molecules on the surface of the moon. Chandrayaan-1 also paved the way for India to undertake planetary missions; in 2014, its Mars Orbiter Mission called Mangalyaan ("Mars-craft") successfully reached Mars for less than Rs 450 Crore (US$73 million). It's still there are still sending back images.

"Having done an orbiter, the next stage is to put a lander on the moon, and preferably a Rover," says Bagla. That's exactly what ISRO plans to do with Chandrayaan-2. "It was an obvious next choice, but it's tricky because it's being done with indigenous resources – and it's the most complex mission ISRO has ever done.

How much does Chandrayaan-2 cost?

ISRO is known for its frugal space missions, and Chandrayaan-2 looks cheap in comparison to global missions, but that misses the point. "At Rs 800 crore (US$115 million) it's a lot of taxpayer's money," says Bagla. "So ISRO is treading carefully."

India's Mars spacecraft launches from the east coast island of Sriharikota, India, on Nov. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Arun Sankar K)

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Is Chandrayaan-2 risky?

Yes, but all missions to land on a celestial body come with inherent risks. The most dangerous parts are the separation of the lander from the orbiter, and the lunar landing, which is a freefall for the last few meters. "You have to hit the bullseye in one go once you decide to land," says Bagla."If you're not able to fire your retro rockets and land with the minimum of energy, you have a failure, and there have been many. The risk is very high but they have done a lot of iterations and simulations and they're riding on the confidence that they were able to hit the bullseye at Mars."

After Chandrayaan-2, ISRO has a target of August 15, 2022 (the 75th anniversary of India's independence) to put three Indian astronauts into orbit for the first time. It's also planning missions to send probes to both Venus and Mars
@Nilgiri @VCheng @Joe Shearer @anant_s @Water Car Engineer @Skull and Bones @Jackdaws @Soumitra @AyanRay @Tshering22 @jaiind @Novice09 @Rollno21 @kris @Sheena1980 @Vikki @scorpionx @MilSpec @KapitaanAli @jetray @Levina @Vibrio @pahadi@Śakra@third eye @Tea addict @Sam. @VCheng @Chhatrapati @Mirza Jatt @Srinivas@Peshwa @Robinhood Pandey @firestorm77 @Ajaxpaul @anant_s @GeraltofRivia @Telescopic Sight@Army research @Hack-Hook @jamahir
@SrNair @koolzberg @Khatri_pune @Axomiya_lora

 

[LeGenD]

Best of luck.

 

[Strigon]

I can only ask ISRO to be careful not to shoot the moon down, we still need it....

 

[Cobra Arbok]

I can only ask ISRO to be careful not to shoot the moon down, we still need it....

You'll still have a moon on your flag, so I don't see why you are concerned

 

[Strigon]

You'll still have a moon on your flag, so I don't see why you are concerned

You still have the broken wreckage of your jet and heli shot down, doesn’t mean you can salvage it to use on a space mission. Spare moon please, it’s not as replaceable as poor equipment you guys use...

I am concerned about the incompetence shown as if it’s a quality, that can have consequence outside of India..

 

[Cobra Arbok]

You still have the broken wreckage of your jet and heli shot down, doesn’t mean you can salvage it to use on a space mission. Spare moon please, it’s not as replaceable as poor equipment you guys use...

I am concerned about the incompetence shown as if it’s a quality, that can have consequence outside of India..

I understand your concern, but there is no need to worry. ISRO has developed a reputation as a highly reputable and world-class space agency ever since it successfully launched its mission to Mars, becoming the first space agency to succeed on its first attempt. Can't say the same about SUPARCO. Similarly, India recently became the first country to successfully launch an ASAT missile on its first attempt. So don't worry, the moon is in good hands.

As the saying goes, there are many countries with moon on their flags, but only a few countries have their flag on the moon.

 

[Knight Rider]

Not the moon !!!! Best of luck !!!

 

[crankthatskunk]

You'll still have a moon on your flag, so I don't see why you are concerned

God save the Queen, errrrrr the moon.

 

[Longhorn]

I understand your concern, but there is no need to worry. ISRO has developed a reputation as a highly reputable and world-class space agency ever since it successfully launched its mission to Mars, becoming the first space agency to succeed on its first attempt. Can't say the same about SUPARCO. Similarly, India recently became the first country to successfully launch an ASAT missile on its first attempt. So don't worry, the moon is in good hands.

As the saying goes, there are many countries with moon on their flags, but only a few countries have their flag on the moon.

Good luck to you, mate.
I don't understand why you have to continuously compare yourself to Pakistan though. You are a bigger country with a bigger economy so you are always going to be able to attempt bigger projects than we are. It does however speak volumes for your self confidence and esteem that you have to compare yourself to a country 7 times smaller than yourselves to feel good.

 

[Nilgiri]

Best of luck.

Hey buddy send me email at my signature when you got a little time. Hope to stay in touch more easy with the good members of this forum.

 

[Strigon]

I understand your concern, but there is no need to worry. ISRO has developed a reputation as a highly reputable and world-class space agency ever since it successfully launched its mission to Mars, becoming the first space agency to succeed on its first attempt. Can't say the same about SUPARCO. Similarly, India recently became the first country to successfully launch an ASAT missile on its first attempt. So don't worry, the moon is in good hands.

As the saying goes, there are many countries with moon on their flags, but only a few countries have their flag on the moon.

Heard the same about IAF as well and look at the boo boo it made...

 

[Cobra Arbok]

Good luck to you, mate.
I don't understand why you have to continuously compare yourself to Pakistan though. You are a bigger country with a bigger economy so you are always going to be able to attempt bigger projects than we are. It does however speak volumes for your self confidence and esteem that you have to compare yourself to a country 7 times smaller than yourselves to feel good.

I wasn't the one who started trolling in this thread

 

[maximuswarrior]

I wasn't the one who started trolling in this thread

Who will be responsible for space debris?

Your daddy ‘Murica is expressing concern.

 

[Cobra Arbok]

Who will be responsible for space debris?

Your daddy ‘Murica is expressing concern.

Lol the satellite was shot at an altitude where the debris would simply fall into the Indian Ocean. And don't you get it? The US lets us do whatever we want. We can buy oil from Iran and s-400 from Russia. In addition, the US always shoots down Pakistan's attempts to condemn India for "human rights" violations, which means India is free to continue killing Kashmiri militants and there is nothing you can do about it

 

[maximuswarrior]

Lol the satellite was shot at an altitude where the debris would simply fall into the Indian Ocean. And don't you get it? The US lets us do whatever we want. We can buy oil from Iran and s-400 from Russia. In addition, the US always shoots down Pakistan's attempts to condemn India for "human rights" violations, which means India is free to continue killing Kashmiri militants and there is nothing you can do about it

LOL your daddy is scolding you for carrying out destruction in space. Don’t bark at the messenger. America is India’s daddy after all.

LOL Keep playing the Yanks. You both deserve each other. Eventually Yankee patience will run out. Right now they are nodding and noting down names. Let things proceed. You’ll find out in time.

Remember the Yankee always backstabs. That is the nature of the beast.