The landscape of Indian space exploration has reached a new milestone with two women piloting the Chandrayaan-2 mission for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This is a unique moment in ISRO’s timeline, marking the first time that women are heading a mission. The two leaders of this ambitious lunar exploration mission are Ritu Kridhal and M Vanitha, serving as project and mission directors respectively.
The Chandrayaan-2 Mission
Chandrayaan-2 signifies ISRO’s second journey to the moon, following the Chandrayaan-1 mission. The main objectives are to quantify the amount of water on the lunar surface, map its topography, study the topmost part of the lunar atmosphere, and investigate various minerals and chemicals like magnesium, iron, and helium.
Importance of the Mission
If successful, Chandrayaan-2 will cement India’s position as a global power in space research. India will be the fourth country, following Russia, China, and the USA, to have a rover successfully land on the moon. Furthermore, it will be the first country to land on the moon’s southern pole, which offers ISRO an opportunity to name that site.
The mission carries 13 instruments from India and one instrument from NASA, emphasizing its indigenous character. Through this mission, India stands to expand its footprint in space. The moon serves as a perfect test-bed for proving technologies necessary for future space exploration.
| Mission | Country | Landing Spot |
|---|---|---|
| Chandrayaan-1 | India | Moon’s equator |
| Chandrayaan-2 | India | Moon’s Southern Pole |
Challenges of Lunar Landing
The journey to the moon is fraught with myriad complexities. Ensuring trajectory accuracy while navigating a distance of 3.844 lakh km poses a formidable challenge.
The effects of distance also create communication hurdles; the radio signals, which need to be received, are weak due to the vast distance from Earth. The act of firing engines close to the lunar surface results in backward flow of gases and dust, causing hindrance to the deployment mechanism and damaging sensors.
The lunar day and night cycle, lasting 14 earth days each, result in extreme surface temperature fluctuations that pose another challenge.
Critical maneuvers such as trans-lunar injection and capture need to be executed with pinpoint precision. The intersection of the probe and moon must be accurately calculated in advance. Finally, the uneven lunar gravity influences the orbit of the spacecraft, adding an additional layer of complexity to the mission.
Each of these challenges presents a unique test for the ISRO team, one they are prepared to meet under the leadership of Ritu Kridhal and M Vanitha.
