Chandrayaan 3: Explaining why Chandrayaan 2 failed in landing on Moon in 2019

ISRO is launching Chandrayaan 3 four years after its predecessor failed in making a Moon landing.

On Sept 7, 2019, Chandrayaan 2's 'Vikram' lander descended to around 2 km above the Moon's surface.

Subsequently, the lander lost contact with ISRO, suggesting that it had crashed.

ISRO later said that engines meant to reduce the lander's velocity actually created too much thrust, and small errors accumulated over time.

The lander couldn't turn fast enough to compensate for these errors.
To add to the problems, the landing site chosen by ISRO was too small, and the lander kept accelerating to reach the site even though it was close to the Moon's surface.

Also watch: Chandrayaan 3: How ISRO changed design after 2nd Moon mission's lander failure

Through the Chandryaan-3 programme, ISRO is crossing new frontiers by demonstrating soft-landing on the lunar surface by its lunar module and demonstrating roving on the lunar terrain, the space agency said.

The LVM3-M4 rocket (formerly GSLVMkI II) dubbed as 'Fat Boy' by space scientists for its ability to carry a heavy payload, would carry Chandrayaan-3 on Friday as ISRO's ambitious moon mission is hugely anticipated from this spaceport on Friday.

The soft landing of the spacecraft is planned for late August. The mission is expected to be supportive to future interplanetary missions.

Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of an indigenous propulsion module, lander module and a rover with the objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.

Friday's mission is the fourth operational flight of LVM3 which aims to launch the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into a Geo Transfer Orbit.

The LVM3 vehicle has proved its versatility to undertake most complex missions including injecting multiple satellites and interplanetary missions among others. It is also the largest and heaviest launch vehicle ferrying domestic and international customer satellites, ISRO said.

Scientists at ISRO through the third moon mission aim to demonstrate various capabilities including reaching the orbit of the moon, making a soft-landing on the lunar surface using a lander, and a rover coming out of the lander to study the surface of the moon.

On Tuesday, the 'launch rehearsal' simulating the entire launch preparation and process that lasted for over 24 hours concluded at Sriharikota while the next day, the Mission Readiness Review was completed by the scientists.

(with PTI inputs)