Chandrayaan 2 is one of the most ambitious space programs of ISRO. After the success of Mars Orbiter, the hopes have been really high. Chandrayaan 2 almost did what it was supposed to do, i.e, the Lander landed on the dark, unseen side of the moon. But since then, all contacts have been lost, but not our hopes. All efforts are being made, not only by ISRO but also by NASA to get back in touch with the Lander. Here we have everything about this thrilling space program of exploring the unseen side of the moon. So, let’s start from the beginning.
| Chandrayan 1 | Chandrayaan 2 |
| Orbiter- 100 Kms from the Lunar Surface | Orbiter- 100 Kms from the Lunar Surface Vikram Lander- to land softly near the south pole. |
Payloads- 11
| Payloads- 13, all Indian along with 1 Passive Experiment |
| Was aimed to Discover water on the Lunar surface and map the chemicals and 3D topography | Is aimed to expand the Lunar exploration. |
| Launched in 2008, it was a PSLV with the spacecraft mass of 1.4T | Launched on July 22, 2019, it is a GSLV MKIII with the spacecraft mass of 3.8T. |
On this day ISRO released the benefits of Chandrayaan 2.
ISRO explained the challenges there are to landing on the Moon.
Battery assembly for all stages of the launch vehicle was completed for Cahndrayaan-2.
Pragyan Rover integrated with lander Vikram after completion of all tests and Vikram lander integrated with Orbiter.
Pyro arming and electrical checks were completed and the batteries of the vehicle were charged.
Cahndrayaan-2 was all set to integrate with GSLV launcher.
The cowling assembly of the equipment bay camera was completed along with the radio frequency checks while the payload fairing assembly was still in process.
The encapsulated assembly of Chandrayaan 2 was integrated with the launch vehicle.
The phase 3 level 2A checks of the vehicle were completed while the link checks for lander & orbiter from the ground station was in progress.
The launch vehicle was all set to move to the launch pad.
After GSLV MkIII-M1 was moved to the launch pad, the spacecraft was powered and health checks were done.
Full Dress Rehearsal-1 was carried out.
End to end checks for the Routing and termination of pyros, pressure sensors, Umbilical Connection Unit separation was done.
The final assembly of Shroud was completed along with the On-Board Elementary checks of the Cryogenic stage and Liquid stage control system checks.
The battery of the launch vehicle was charged and the launch-related routine checks were done.
The launch rehearsals were done and the prefill pressurization of propellant tanks was completed.
The countdown for launching Chandrayaan 2 on 15th July started. The liquid stage propellant filling was completed along with UH25 fuel filling of the liquid core stage. Also, liquid oxygen was filled in the Cryogenic stage.
Filling of liquid hydrogen was carried out. One hour before the launch, there was a technical snag that resulted in calling off of the launch.
After the reason for the technical snag was identified and corrected, a new date of launch was set which was 22nd July 2019. Also, online registration for the viewers’ gallery for watching the launch commenced.
Launch rehearsals were completed successfully with normal performance.
The countdown began, the UH25 fuel filling of the liquid core stage was completed.
N204 was filled for the Liquid core stage, liquid oxygen and hydrogen was filled in the Cryogenic stage.Chandrayaan 2 was launched successfully.
Chandrayaan 2 successfully performed the first earthbound orbit-raising maneuver using the onboard propulsion system. The second maneuver was scheduled on July 26.
The second maneuver completed successfully and the third one was scheduled for July 29.
The third earthbound orbit-raising maneuver was completed successfully and the fourth one was scheduled for August 2, 2019.
The fourth maneuver was completed successfully as well and all the spacecraft parameters were normal. The next maneuver was scheduled for August 6, 2019.
Vikram Lander captured the first set of breathtaking Earth images.
The fifth maneuver was completed successfully. The next maneuver is Trans Lunar Insertion which was all set to happen on August 14, 2019.
Chandrayaan 2 entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory successfully. The next Lunar bound orbit maneuver was scheduled on August 21, 2019.
The second Lunar bound orbit maneuver was completed successfully and the next one was scheduled for August 28, 2019. Chnadrayaan-2 sent a picture of the moon.
Terrain Mapping Camera 2 sent the images of the lunar surface showing impact craters such as Jackson, Mitra, Mach, and Korolev.
The third Lunar bound orbit maneuver was completed successfully and the next one was scheduled for August 30, 2019.
The fourth maneuver was completed successfully and the next one was scheduled for September 01, 2019.
The final maneuver was completed successfully and the next operation was the separation of Vikram Lander from Chandrayaan 2 Orbiter that was to occur on September 02, 2019.
Vikram Lander successfully separated from Orbiter and continued to orbit the Moon in its existing orbit. The next maneuver was scheduled on September 03, 2019.
The first de-orbiting maneuver for Chandrayaan 2 was performed successfully. The next deorbiting was scheduled for September 04, 2019.
The second maneuver for deorbiting was performed successfully and the orbit required for the Vikram Lander to start its descent towards the surface of the Moon was achieved.
The Vikram Lander followed the planned descent trajectory and all the systems and sensors were functioning perfectly. Due to the hard landing, all communications with Vikram Lander were lost.
Orbitor spotted Vikram Lander and all possible efforts were being made to establish communications with it.
Even today, ISRO and NASA are trying to establish communication with Vikram Lander. Our fingers are crossed and we are hoping the best.
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