Chandrayaan 3: Know about last 20 minutes of terror before Vikram lander's soft-landing on Moon
Chandrayaan-3 on 14 July and since then, the space agency is sharing information about the significant manoeuvres that the spacecraft underwent in outer space. Now, on Wednesday, ISRO said that at around 18.04 hours, Chandrayaan-3 will land on Moon's surface.
While so far the mission has all gone smoothly, scientists are slightly wary about the last 20 minutes. Read all the live updates on Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing here The critical process of soft-landing has been dubbed by many including ISRO officials as "20 or 17 minutes of terror".
This is because, in these last minutes, the entire process will become autonomous. At this time, the Vikram lander has to fire its engines at the right times and altitudes, use the right amount of fuel, and scan the lunar surface for any obstacles or hills or craters before finally touching down.
After checking all the parameters and deciding to land, ISRO will upload all the required commands from its Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu in Bengaluru to the Lander Module, a couple of hours before the scheduled time touchdown. According to ISRO officials, for landing, at around 30 km altitude, the lander enters the powered braking phase and begins to use its four thruster engines by "retro firing" them to reach the surface of the moon, by gradually reducing the speed.
This is to ensure the lander doesn't crash, as the Moon's gravity will also be in play. Noting that on reaching an altitude of around 6.8 km, only two engines will be used, shutting down the other two, aimed at giving the reverse thrust to the lander as it descends further, they said, then, on reaching an altitude of about 150-100 metres, the lander using its sensors and cameras, would scan the surface to check
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