After Chandrayaan-2, Here Are Some Of The Important Future Missions ISRO Is Planning
The Chandrayaan-2 failed to make a smooth soft-landing unable to bring down its speed to the required level. All contact with the Vikram lander has been lost but all hope is not lost. The ISRO official statement says that &ldquo only 5 percent of the mission has beenlost. While the remaining 95 per cent - that is the Chandraysaan 2 orbiter - is orbiting the moon successfully.
It was nail biting wait for people across the country and for the officials at ISRO, but things went awry in the 13th minute, as the Chandrayaan-2 failed to make a smooth soft-landing, unable to bring down its speed to the required level.
For now, all contact with the Vikram lander has been lost, but all hope is not lost. The ISRO official statement says that ¡°Only 5 percent of the mission has been lost - Vikram the lander and Pragyan the rover - while the remaining 95 per cent - that is the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter - is orbiting the moon successfully," reports IANS.
The orbiter can take pictures of the lander to find out its status too, the ISRO official added. The rover inside the lander had a lifespan of only 14 days. While the news of the failed landing might have left a million hearts broken, the efforts for attempting such a monumental task didn¡¯t go unrecognised.
Apart from the Chandrayaan Mission, here are some of the important future missions that ISRO is working on.
1. Ganganyaan
This project aims to send a three-member crew to space for at least seven days and is scheduled for the year 2022. The project was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech this year.
The spacecraft, which is being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), consists of a service module and a crew module, collectively known as the Orbital Module.
The Indian space agency displayed the Gaganyaan crew model and orange space suits at the Bengaluru Space Expo's 6th edition earlier this year. The space suit were developed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. The total fund requirement for the Gaganyaan Programme is within Rs 10,000 crore.
2. Shukryaan mission
Another big project in the pipeline is the exploration of planet Venus. ISRO intends to send an orbiter mission to study the atmosphere of Venus, which is made up primarily of carbon dioxide. The Shukrayaan mission will study the dense, hot atmosphere of Venus and its surface using a probe. The mission will be launched in 2023.
3. India's own space station
One of the most important plans in the pipeline is building India's own space station. The proposed station will weigh 15-20 tonnes and will be able to host people for 15-20 days. ISRO will be submitting a detailed report to Indian Government on its plan for setting up the space station, which is then estimated to take up to five to seven years to conceptualise. This is an extension of the Ganganyaan project.
4. Mangalyaan 2
India had launched its first Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on November 5, 2013, using PSLV-C25 rocket.
In the next MoM, Mangalyaan 2 is set to study the red planet¡¯s surface, morphology, mineralogy and its atmosphere. The second interplanetary mission is planned for launch to Mars by the Indian Space Research Organisation in 2024. According ISRO website, the orbiter will use aerobraking to lower its initial apoapsis and enter into an orbit more suitable for observations.
5. Aditya-L1
Aditya or Aditya-L1 is a spacecraft mission to study the Sun.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft will orbit 1.5 million km away from the Earth. While orbiting in Lagrangian point L1, it will not have any obstructions in viewing the Sun ¡ª not even during eclipses, the ISRO chief was quoted as saying.
India could launch its first ever mission to study the Sun ¨C Aditya-L1 ¡ª as soon as 2020, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chief K Sivan announced in June this year. There are a lot of things that scientists and astronomers are yet to learn about the Sun, he added, and the Aditya-L1 mission is hoping to address some questions.
