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"Today Chandrayaan 2 completes one year on Moon orbit. It was successfully inserted in the Lunar orbit on August 20, 2019," said ISRO. The moment has been one to be proud of by every Indian. And why not, it was one of the greatest tech developments. The Chandrayaan 2 had the ability to soft-land and operate a robotic rover on the lunar surface.
"Though the soft-landing attempt (of the lander carrying the rover) was not successful, the orbiter, which was equipped with eight scientific instruments, was successfully placed in the lunar orbit. The orbiter completed more than 4,400 orbits around the Moon and all the instruments are currently performing well," the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
The spacecraft is healthy and performance of subsystems are normal. Also, there is adequate onboard fuel to remain operational for about seven years, ISRO said.
About Chandrayaan 2
The Indian space agency said the first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 established the extensive presence of surface water. It indicated subsurface polar water-ice deposits. The mission also argued for more focused studies on the extent of water on the surface, below the surface and in the tenuous lunar exosphere. This would address the true origin and availability of water on the moon.
Then, in 2019 July, ISRO launched a second moon-probe with Chandrayaan 2. It attempted a moon-landing on September 7. However, the landing was not successful. ISRO lost contact with the Vikram lander, barely at an altitude of 2.1 km from the lunar surface.
Further, this mission had the objectives of obtaining detailed information on the topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and the lunar exosphere.
You can read about the whole mission here.
'Vikram' and 'Pragyan'
As India attempted a soft landing on the lunar surface on September 7, all eyes were on the lander 'Vikram' and rover 'Pragyan'.
The 1,471-kg 'Vikram' was named after Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian space programme. It could execute a soft landing on the lunar surface and function for one lunar day (about 14 earth days). Chandrayaan 2's 27-kg robotic vehicle 'Pragyan' could travel up to 500 metres from the landing spot on the moon. It had the potential to leverages solar energy for its functioning.
However, the lander Vikram hard-landed on September 7. With it, it crashed India's dream to become the first nation to successfully land on the lunar surface in its maiden attempt. The lander Vikram missed the primary landing site and went for the second. The visuals went missing henceforth.
According to ISRO chief K Sivan, communication from Vikram lander was lost. Further, they are still analysing the data.
The US, China and private corporations are among those racing to explore everything from resource mining to extraterrestrial colonies on the moon and even Mars.
Future plans of ISRO
ISRO’s next priority is the $1.4 billion Gaganyaan mission. It aims to put three Indian “gaganauts” into orbit. At least one of them will be a woman. Also, ISRO plans to send Chandrayaan 3 in mid-2021.
Moreover, ISRO chief said, "Chandrayaan-2 continues to perform as per the design and provides valuable scientific data. The public release of scientific data from Chandrayaan-2 for global use will further begin in October 2020."