Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Vikram Status : Chandrayaan II

12th September, 2019; 11.00 hrs IST.
Post 7th Sept., 1.55 am; every space enthusiast and an Aam aadmi is seeking the status of Vikram. The resolve and intent shown by ISRO is commendable in tracing down Vikram within 40-hours (roughly). It was an extra-ordinary effort on part of ISRO to employ Imaging IR Spectrograph (IIRS) to pick Vikram. As per ISRO norms; the payloads would be made operational as per the prior determined sequence from their hibernation status. I am sure, the waking up of IIRS is an exception as it provides unprecedented 80-m resolution images.
The palpable pressure on ISRO can also be judged by the fact that they have requested public faith in them as theier best efforts are behind the salvaging efforts of Vikram.
In my view: though ISRO was fully prepared for any eventuality ("15-min terror"); they had to face rude shock of uncertainty as Vikram descended below 3-km. As per the views expressed by anonymous team members; the lack of simulations on Vikram could have been the reason behind unknown situations faced by Vikram.
Lets face it... on moon, you got ambiance (atmosphere) which is 10-orders of magnitude less than what you feel on earth (760 torr of atmosphere). You could never ever simulate these conditions for testing the throttelable retro engine (800-N capacity) lets say. There was no way you could simulate 100s of kmph speeds to test breaking mechanisms. As per one report; even a simple drop of Vikram from an aircraft would have given some handle on testing out the AI behind the Hazard Detection Avoidance Sensor system. Well.... Vikram had not reached that phase at 2.1 km anyway.
So as we have completed 6-earth days out of the 14-available on the moon to perform post Vikram operations....Having spend 4+ years for the Chandrayaan-I; Moon Impact Probe mission time... I can assure every one that Team ISRO is not going to leave any stone un-turned....
Lets wish ISRO....... all the very best....

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