ISRO Hasn’t Given Up On Its Moon Ambitions; Second Landing Attempt Soon

ISRO is working on another soft landing on the lunar surface, chairman K. Sivan said. After nearly two months of the failed Vikram lander touchdown, aboard the Chandrayaan-2, the premier space agency is striving to demonstrate another landing on the Moon. K. Sivan says that ISRO is working on a plan to attempt another satellite landing.

Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Lander Second Attempt

ISRO chief addressed the matter at the 50th convocation ceremony of IIT Delhi. He said that all the systems on the Chandrayaan-2 functioned until 300 meters from the Moon's surface before the Vikram lander had a hard landing. He highlighted that the valuable data in hand will be able to set things right with the second attempt.

The Chandrayaan-2's robotic Vikram lander was supposed to soft-land on the lunar surface on September 7, but lost all communication with the base when it was 300 meters away. Sivan addressed the media and said: "We are working on a plan of action to go ahead with Vikram Lander landing."

Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Lander Second Landing

If the Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander had a smooth touchdown, India would have become the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon's surface. ISRO had designed the Vikram lander and the Pragyaan rover to explore the lunar surface. Had things gone right, the Pragyaan rover would have explored the South Pole region of the Moon for one lunar day (14 Earth days).

Even as ISRO prepares for another attempt, NASA's LRO is trying its best to find the Vikram lander. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter conducted two flybys and captured multiple images of the lunar surface where the Vikram lander might have crashed. Unfortunately, the Vikram lander is still missing.

On the positive side, ISRO is on track with its other space missions, namely the ambitious Aditya L-1, a solar program with human spaceflight. "Chandrayaan-2 is not the end of the story. Our plans on the Aditya L-1 solar mission and human spaceflight program are on track. A large number of advance satellite launches are planned in the coming months," Sivan said.