'Even if everything fails, still Vikram lander will…' ISRO chief S Somanath on Chandrayaan-3 landing
2 min read 09 Aug 2023, 07:56 AM ISTISRO plans proper touchdown of ‘Vikram’ lander even if its sensors and engines fail: ISRO chief S Somanath
PremiumISRO chairman S Somanath has said that the lander of India’s third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3, Vikram, will be able to make a soft-landing on the Moon's surface on August 23 even if if all the sensors and two of its engines do not work.
The statement came from the ISRO chief came during a talk on ‘Chandrayaan-3: Bharat’s Pride Space Mission’ which was hosted by the non-profit organisation Disha Bharat.
He said that the entire design of the lander has been made in a manner that makes sure that it would be able to handle failures, Somanath said as quoted by PTI.
“If everything fails, if all the sensors fail, nothing works, still it (Vikram) will make a landing. That’s how it has been designed -- provided that the propulsion system works well," Somanath said.
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Chandrayaan-3 blasted into Space on July 14 and it entered into lunar orbit on August 5. There will be three more de-orbiting manoeuvres -- exercises to bring it closer to the Moon so that Vikram lands on the Moon's surface on August 23. These de-orbiting manoeuvres will be performed on August 9, August 14, and August 16 till its orbit reduces to 100 kmx100 km from the Moon, Somanath said as quoted by PTI.
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Further explaining, he said, a lander propulsion module separation exercise will be taken up subsequently, soon after lander "deboost", a process that slows down the craft. It will be followed by landing on lunar surface on August 23.
“We have also made sure that if two of the engines (in Vikram) don’t work this time also, it will still be able to land," the ISRO chairman said.
“So the whole design has been made to make sure that it (Vikram) should be able to handle many failures, provided the algorithms work properly," he added.
During the address, he said that the biggest challenge, according to him, is to make a horizontal ‘Vikram’ land vertically on the lunar surface. Somanath said once the lander separates from the orbiter, it will move horizontally. Through a series of manoeuvres, it will be brought to a vertical stance in order to land safely on the Moon, however, he added that this exercise is crucial. His reference came after ISRO's failed to get its lander to touchdown safely on the Moon's surface during the last mission.
“The ability to transfer from horizontal to vertical direction is the trick we have to play here. Here only we had the problem last time," he said.
“The challenge is also to make sure that the fuel consumed is lesser, the distance calculations are correct and all the algorithms work properly," the ISRO chief said.
He explained that the ISRO team this time has made arrangements to ensure that Vikram land properly even if there are some variations in the calculations.
(With inputs from PTI)
