What if Chandrayaan 3 misses soft landing today? 3 scenarios explained

Isro chairman S Somnath earlier said there is no way Chandryaan 3 will miss the soft landing on August 23 as it has been developed in a fail-safe manner keeping in mind what went wrong with Chandrayaan 2.

Even if all the sensors fail, the engines stop, Vikram will make the landing. But what if there is a miss? The Moon Mission has these alternative plans ready.

1. Second attempt for soft landing on August 24

Chandryaan 3 will make the second attempt to soft land on the south pole of the moon on August 24.

At 5.45pm, the soft landing process will start after internal checks and when the sun rises on the moon. Starting from 5.45pm, it will be 17 minutes of terror in which lander will fire its engines and prepare the landing.

The spacecraft will have to become vertical from horizontal for the landing. This is the most crucial part

“If everything fails, if all the sensors fail, nothing works, still it (Vikram) will make a landing. That’s how it has been designed — provided that the propulsion system works well. We have also made sure that if two of the engines (in Vikram) don’t work this time also, it will still be able to land,” said the chairman.

2. Next lunar sunrise

If there is a miss in the soft landing of the Chandryaan 3 today, the window for more attempts will remain open for 14 days as a lunar day is equivalent to 14 Earth days. The next window will open when the sun rises on the moon the next.

3. Chandryaan 3 will hover at its current position

As Chandrayaan 3 waits for the next attempt, it will hover in its current orbit of 25kmX134km.

Chandryaan 2 failed when the lander could not soft land on the surface. Communication with the lander was lost when it was at an altitude of 2.1 kilometres above the moon’s surface. It crash-landed on the surface on September 7, 2019. Chandrayaan 3 has been developed to rule out the scenarios that led to the crash landing of the Chandryaan 2.

“If it doesn’t land tomorrow owing to whatever factor, whether the health of the lander or a break in communication, we will attempt the landing again within 24-50 hours. Meanwhile, alternate landing sites will also be considered,” S Somanath said.