3.08.2020
- Shanmuga Subramanian claimed that the rover had 'rolled out a few metres from the skeleton Vikram lander whose payloads got disintegrated due to rough landing'
- Last year, NASA credited Subramanian for having found the impact site of Chandrayaan 2’s lander Vikram
Chennai-based engineer Shanmuga Subramanian, who was credited by NASA last year for spotting the debris of the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan 2 on moon, has come up with another revelation. The techie has claimed to have spotted Chandrayaan 2's rover (Pragyan), which he said on Twitter is pretty much "intact" on the moon's surface.
In a series of tweets, Subramanian claimed that the rover had "rolled out a few metres from the skeleton Vikram lander whose payloads got disintegrated due to rough landing".
He also made these observations:
- "Debris I found was of Langumir probe from the Vikram lander
2. Debris NASA found might be from other payloads, antenna, retro braking engines, solar panels on side etc.,
3. Rover has rolled out from lander & has actually travelled few metres from the surface"
He also said that that the commands were sent to lander "blindly" for days and "there is a distinct possibility that lander could have received commands and relayed it to the rover.. but lander was not able to communicate it back to the earth".
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had lost contact with the lander Vikram following its launch from Chandrayaan 2 moon orbiter on 7September when it tried to make soft-landing near the moon's south pole.
The prized lander was part of India’s second mission to the Moon—Chandrayaan-2 was launched on 22 July from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. However, it went incommunicado two minutes before it was expected to make a soft landing on 7 September. At the time, the lander was believed to have made a hard landing on the Moon. The mission consisted of an orbiter, lander Vikram and rover Pragyan.
Subramanian has also mailed ISRO about his latest find, a screenshot of which he shared on Twitter.
The Chandrayaan 2 is a ₹978 crore unmanned moon mission with the satellite alone costing ₹603 crore while the launch vehicle ₹375 crore.
A successful soft landing on the moon's surface would have made the country only the fourth - after the United States, Russia and China - to achieve the feat. It would also have made India the first country to complete a soft landing near the South Pole on its very first attempt.
India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV MkIII-M1 successfully launched the 3,840-kg Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into the Earth's orbit on July 22. The spacecraft successfully entered the lunar orbit on August 20 by performing Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) manoeuvre, and on September 2, 'Vikram' successfully separated from the orbiter.
Quelle: live mint
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'Analysing It,' Says ISRO On Claims Chandrayaan-2 Rover is Intact
A space enthusiast has claimed that the rover is ‘intact’ and has moved a few metres away from debris of the lander.
A Chennai-based Mechanical Engineer has claimed that the rover launched by Indian Space Research Organisation’s Chandrayan 2 mission to the moon is ‘intact’ and has moved a few metres from debris of Vikram, the lander, which had disintegrated due to a rough landing on the lunar surface.
The claim by Shanmuga Subramanian, accompanied by pictures, comes nearly ten months after ISRO failed to soft-launch Vikram, the lander, and Paagyan, the rover, as part of its ambitious mission.
Shedding light on his claim, Subramanian, who found the debris of India's moonlander Vikram, said that since commands were sent to Vikram, the lander, for days, there is a “distinct possibility that lander could have received commands and relayed it to the rover.. but lander was not able to communicate it back to the earth.”
Seeking to explain why the possible discovery was not made earlier, Subramanian said that since the lunar south pole is not always well-lit and since the “the lander was in a shallow depth of 2 m from the surface,” it may have not been visible during a NASA flyby on 11 November 2019.
“Due to different angle of incidence, it would be difficult for anyone to find it unless the sun is directly above the surface,” he added.
What is ISRO saying?
"We have received communication from him (Subramanian). Our experts are analysing the same," K Sivan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told IANS.
Why did the lander disintegrate?
Vikram lost contact with ISRO following its launch from Chandrayaan-2 moon orbiter on 6 September last year when it tried to make soft landing near the moon's south pole.
21 July 2020 marked a year of the launch of India's second moon mission by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-MkIII-M1.
It was on 22 Jul, 2019, when the GSLV rocket, nicknamed 'Bahubali', blasted off from the second launch pad at India's rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh carrying Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter Vikram (lander) and Pragyan (rover).
Quelle: thequint
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Techie from Chennai claims Chandrayaan 2 rover intact, uses Nasa images to show it moved a few metres
Scientists lost contact with Vikram lander onboard Chandrayaan 2 less than two minutes before it was supposed to make a soft landing on the lunar surface last year.
A techie from Chennai has claimed that the rover onboard Chandrayaan 2, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) moon mission, is present on the lunar surface and has even moved a few metres.
The Chandrayaan 2 was India’s second mission to the moon which was sent to the space last year. It had a lander Vikram and a rover named Pragyan, which translates to wisdom in Sanskrit.
The techie Shanmuga Subramanian has posted a series of images on Twitter which he claims show Pragyan is intact and “has rolled out few metres from the skeleton Vikram lander whose payloads got disintegrated due to rough landing”.
Subramanian had earlier identified Vikram’s debris using Nasa’s images. And he has used the US space agency’s images this time too to back his claim.
“1.Debris I found was of Langumir probe from the Vikram lander. 2. Debris NASA found might be from other payloads, antenna, retro braking engines, solar panels on side etc. 3. Rover has rolled out from lander & has actually travelled few metres from the surface,” he said in one of his tweets.
Subramanian said that it was difficult to detect the rover because it is present on the South Pole of the moon, which is “not always well lit”. And that is the reason, the techie says, it was not detected in Nasa flyby on November 11.
He further tweeted: “Update: It seems the commands were sent to lander blindly for days & there is a distinct possibility that lander could have received commands and relayed it to the rover.. but lander was not able to communicate it back to the earth.”
Scientists lost contact with the Vikram lander less than two minutes before it was supposed to make a soft landing on the lunar surface.
Vikram lander was trying to make history by making India the first country to “soft land” on the South Pole of the moon. Scientists believe there could be water ice on the moon’s South Pole.
Pragyan was expected to examine the surface of the moon.
Quelle: hindustantimes