The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter’s lifespan was originally planned for one year but the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) expects it to last seven years, the Union Minister said on Wednesday , Jitendra Singh. In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha about India’s second lunar mission, Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, said that Chandrayaan-2 was a very complex mission to develop and demonstrate key technologies for – end lunar mission capability, including soft landing and movement on the lunar surface. The mission included an orbiter, a lander and a rover.
Scheduled to land on the moon’s south pole, Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019. However, the Vikram lander landed hard on September 7, 2019, crushing India’s dream of becoming the first nation to land. successfully on the moon. surface in its first attempt. “But to achieve a soft landing where it was planned, the other mission objectives were largely achieved. So much so that against an initially expected one-year orbiter life, we expect that he will serve for seven years, ”said Singh mentioned. The mission achieved the goal of expanding lunar scientific knowledge through a detailed study of topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermophysical characteristics and the tenuous lunar atmosphere leading to better understanding of the origin and evolution of the moon, he added. In August last year, Singh announced that the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter had captured images of craters on the Moon. They were named “Sarabhai Crater” after Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian space program. The Sarabhai crater captured in 3D images shows that it is about 1.7 km deep, taken from its raised edge, and that the slope of the crater walls is between 25 and 35 degrees. The findings will help space scientists better understand the process in the lava-filled lunar region, Singh said. ISRO missions are known to have a longer lifespan than previously envisioned. The expected lifespan of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) / Mangalyaan after its insertion into Mars orbit on September 24, 2014 was six months and it was scheduled to end on March 24, 2015. However, the MOM is still functioning and sending images.