Chandrayaan-2: A Journey To The Dark Side Of The Moon
The spacecraft Chandrayaan-2 is made of 4 important components: launch rocket, lander, orbiter and rover. Each of it have their own role to play in India's second mission to the moon. The rocket is designed to carry Chandrayaan-2 into the moon. Once the rocket reaches space the orbiter -lander module will be released. In a […]
The spacecraft Chandrayaan-2 is made of 4 important components: launch rocket, lander, orbiter and rover. Each of it have their own role to play in India's second mission to the moon.
The rocket is designed to carry Chandrayaan-2 into the moon. Once the rocket reaches space the orbiter -lander module will be released.
In a series of manoeuvres , it will sling shot itself closer to the moon.
Once in the orbit of the moon it will circle it at an altitude of 100 kilometres. It will take images of the lunar surface, test the atmosphere & send them to ISRO. The orbiter has a mission life of a year. The rocket is called the 'fat boy' or 'Bahubali'.
The lander is called Vikram, named after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, the Father of the Indian Space Programme. Once in orbit, the lander will detach from the orbiter and descend to a lower lunar orbit. It will then make a soft landing on the south polar region of the moon.
The lander will then release the rover. It is designed to function for one lunar day, which is equivalent to about 14 Earth days. The rover is called Pragyan which means wisdom in Sanskrit. Its is a 6-wheeled robotic vehicle. It can travel up to 500m and leverages solar energy for its functioning. It can only communicate with the Lander.
