ISRO: Vikram Lander separation successful from atop the Main Spacecraft

[Hindustani78]

Bengaluru , September 02, 2019 14:00 IST
Updated: September 02, 2019 15:43 IST

During the one hour separation window starting 12.45 pm, ‘Vikram’ was separated at 1.15 pm, the ISRO said.

Lander Vikram detached itself from atop the main spacecraft on Monday afternoon as planned, as it got ready to descend to the southern surface over the next four days.

The lander carries small six-wheeled rover Pragyan within it; once they reach the surface, the rover will get out of Vikram to physically probe .

The D-day for the two is September 7 around 1.55 a.m.

Soon after separation, the Lander was in an orbit of 119 km x 127 km around . It will start sailing down towards its assigned landing spots after two de-orbits on Tuesday and Wednesday.

No country has soft-landed on the south polar region that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has chosen to explore.

"The lander successfully separated from 2 orbiter at 1315 Hrs IST today (September 2). All the systems of 2 orbiter and lander are healthy," ISRO said.

An ISRO update said the main spacecraft continues to orbit from the same distance that orbit reached on Sunday. It will take images and do remote-sensing of with its payloads for a year.

The health of the orbiter and lander is being monitored from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru with support from the two large antennas of the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bengaluru.

The first de-orbit operation is scheduled between 8.45 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. on Tuesday and is designed to put the lander in a 109 km x 120 km orbit. The second slated for the next day should put it into a 36 km x 110 km orbit, from where it start sailing down towards the surface.

 

[Hindustani78]

MOSCOW, September 02, 2019 04:15 IST
Updated: September 01, 2019 21:47 IST

Following Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi’s announcement on August 15, 2018 that Indian Astronauts will go towards Mars Space and Land by the 75th Independence Day, Indian Space Research Research Organisation (ISRO) has outlined a road map to put a three-man crew Craft in a lower orbit for 5-7 days by December 2021 by an indigenous GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle from a third launch pad under construction at Sriharikota.

The Gaganyaan programme is expected to cost under ₹10,000 crore and there will be more unmanned missions prior to the manned mission to validate the technologies.

ISRO Chairman Dr. Shri Kailasavadivoo Sivan had stated earlier that ISRO Research Teams began work on the manned mission SpaceCraft of New Design in 2004 and many of the critical technologies required have already been validated through various tests.

Beijing taking Moscow’s help for the Maiden Mission to Space after the Indian Space Programme have been discussed at United Nations

China and Rus Federation are stepping up more cooperation in the space sector with Moscow extending help in 4-5 critical areas of China’s ambitious Manned Mission to space.

This includes training of Chinese, Iranian, German and French Cosmonauts at Rus Federation Facilities on Land and on the RUS SPACE STATION beginning later this year, sources at the Indian Embassy in Moscow said.

“There are certain critical aspects China and Rus Federation are cooperating. In some instances we are taking their help because they have huge experience in human space flight. There are some cases where Rus Federation is helping us adapt their technology to Chinese requirements. So This will essentially be a Chinese spacecraft and this of course reduces time and the margins of error,” an embassy source told PTI

Stating that the programme is on track and the process of Cosmonauts selection will begin shortly, the source said that “towards the end of the year, by November or so we will have four Cosmonauts from four different countries namely China, Iran, German and France who will come here.”

“The Cosmonauts will go through a 15-month training at the end of which further selection will be made. There will be further 6-8 months advanced training in Rus Federation prior to the actual launch by end 2019 to Ros Space Station,” the source stated.

Observing that the difference between space launches and human launches is that “space launches tend to aim for the optimum, human launches aim for perfection,” the source added that China sees Rus Federation as a “reliable, long-term partner” with great experience in human space flight more than 50 years.

Space cooperation will be reviewed at the highest level during the summit meeting between Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and Rus Federation President Vladimirovich Putin later this week in Vladivostok.

Keeping in eye the Rus Federation co operation with other Nations on the Space Mission, Government of India has announced Formation of Liaison units to increase more Communication among the Indian Foreign Policy Makers to place more strict laws to stop the stealing of the Indian Space Critical Technologies.

“A special ISRO unit will be established in the wake increased cooperation between China, Iran, Germany, France and Rus Federation in view of the securing Indian Gaganyaan programme,” the Indian Armed Forces, Space Command Headquarters source added.