ISRO said on Wednesday that the lander module (LM) of its ambitious third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 is ready to initiate the automatic landing sequence (ALS) to touch down on the lunar surface tonight.
The lunar module, consisting of a lander (Vikram) and a rover (Pragyan), is scheduled to touch down near the moon’s south pole region at 6:04 p.m. Wednesday, a feat no country has achieved so far.
“Everything is ready to start the automatic landing sequence (ALS). Waiting for the lander module (LM) to reach the assigned site around 17:44 IST (5:44 pm),” ISRO said in a post on X.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
Everything is ready to start the automatic landing sequence (ALS).
At around 17:44, wait for the arrival of the lander module (LM) at the designated location. IST.Upon receipt of the ALS command, the LM started a throttleable engine for a powered descent.
this… pic.twitter.com/x59DskcKUV— Indian Space Research Organization (@isro) August 23, 2023
“After receiving the ALS command, the lunar module starts the throttled engine for a powered descent. The mission operations team will continuously confirm the sequential execution of the command,” it said.
After checking all parameters and deciding to land, ISRO will upload the required commands from the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) facility in nearby Bairalu and upload them to the lunar module a few hours before the scheduled landing time.
On touchdown, at an altitude of about 30 kilometers, the lander entered a dynamic braking phase and began using its four thruster engines to gradually reduce speed to the lunar surface by “reverse firing,” according to ISRO officials. This is to ensure that the lander does not crash, as the moon’s gravity also plays a role.
After reaching an altitude of about 6.8 kilometers, they said, only two engines will be used, while the other two will be turned off in order to provide reverse thrust for the lander as it descends further.
Then, when it reaches an altitude of about 150-100 meters, the lander will use its sensors and cameras to scan the surface for any obstacles before beginning its descent for a soft landing.
ISRO Chairman S Somanath recently said that the most critical part of the landing will be the process of decelerating the lander from an altitude of 30 kilometers to the speed of its final touchdown, and the ability to reorient the spacecraft from a horizontal to a vertical orientation. “That’s the trick we have to play here,” he said.
After a soft touchdown, the rover will descend from the lander’s belly to the lunar surface, using one of its side panels, which will act as a ramp. On touchdown, the lander may have to face the challenge of lunar dust as the onboard engines ignite close to the lunar surface.
The mission life of the lander and rover is 1 lunar day (about 14 Earth days) to study the surrounding environment there. ISRO officials, however, did not rule out the possibility of their resurrection on another lunar day.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from syndicated feeds.)
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