File photo of India’s GSLV Mk III-M1 explodes wearing Chandrayaan-2. (Credit: Reuters)
Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019, and launched on a monthly basis on August 20, exactly one year ago.
- PTI Bengaluru
- Last updated: 20 August 2020, 23:31 IST
India’s second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, completed a year in orbit on Thursday every month and all instruments are currently performing well and there is enough fuel on board to keep it more operational for about seven years. , said space agency ISRO.
Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019 and inserted into the monthly base on August 20, exactly one year ago. “Although the attempt at soft landing (from the lander carrying the rover) was not successful, the orbiter, which was equipped with eight scientific instruments, was successfully placed in the lunar base.
The orbiter has completed more than 4,400 orbits around the Moon and all instruments are currently performing well, “said the Indian Space Research Organization. The agency said in a statement that the spacecraft was healthy and the performance of subsystems was normal.” The orbiter is maintained in 100 +/- 25 km polar orbit with periodic orbit maintenance (OM) maneuvers. So far, 17 OMs have been completed since reaching 100 km of lunar orbit on September 24, 2019. There is enough fuel on board to remain operational for about seven years, “it added.
The Chandrayaan-2 mission was India’s first attempt to make a soft landing from a rover at the unchartered South Pole of the lunar surface. However, the lander Vikram arrived hard in September last year. The scientific loadloads, including high-resolution camera, aboard the orbiter to map the lunar surface and study the moon’s exosphere (outer atmosphere).
The ISRO headquarters said that raw data from the payloads were downloaded at the Indian Space Science Data Center (ISSDC) this year. Public data release was planned for the end of this year, after validation by a formal peer review, said the addition of observations from the first year of Chandrayaan-2 demonstrate the performance in the job of the loadloads, strongly indicating that the ability is to significantly contribute to the lunar science.
“The expected longevity of this orbiter could greatly contribute to the current resurgence of interest among the global scientific community for a sustained presence on the moon,” the space agency said.
Chandrayaan-2 was launched to further expand knowledge over the moon through a detailed study of its topography, mineralogy, chemical surface area, thermophysical characteristics and atmosphere, leading to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the month. Indias’ first mission to the moon Chandrayaan-1, launched in 2008, had provided clear evidence of the extensive presence of surface water and the designation for polar water-ice deposits below ground.
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