Bangalore: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out Monday the separation of lander ‘Vikram’ from Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, the space agency said.
During the one-hour separation window starting 12.45pm, ‘Vikram’ was separated at 1.15, ISRO stated. “Yes, the separation was successfully carried out,” an ISRO official told this agency.
After the separation, two deorbit manoeuvres of the lander would be carried out to prepare for its landing in the south polar region of the moon.
The ‘Vikram’ moon lander, named after the father of India’s space mission Vikram Sarabhai on his birth centenary year, is scheduled to touch the lunar surface near its south pole September 7 at about 1.55am.
A rover called ‘Pragyaan’ would roll out from the lander to carry out various tests on the lunar soil, especially detecting the presence of water and other minerals there.
The spacecraft comprises three segments – the ‘Orbiter’ (weighing 2,379kgg, eight payloads), the lander ‘Vikram’ (1,471kg, four payloads) and rover ‘Pragyan’ (27kg, two payloads).
ISRO chairman K Sivan has said the proposed soft-landing on the Moon would be a ‘terrifying’ moment as it is something ISRO has not done before, whereas the Lunar Orbit Insertion manoeuvre was successfully carried out during the Chandrayaan-1 mission.
PTI