Indian Moon Mission

[Sarpedon]

Earlier this year we discussed the Israeli Moon Mission, which was an unsuccessful, slapped together at the last minute attempt to make it the 4th country to the moon.

On July 22, India launched its attempt. Like the earlier successful Chinese mission, it consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover. Also like the Chinese mission, it focuses on a part of the Moon that is previously unexplored; the South polar regions.

Like the Israeli mission, it will approach the moon slowly with a series of orbit heightening maneuvers for the next couple of months. Landing is expected on September 7.

Unlike the ongoing Chinese mission, the lander and rover are only expected to function for 14 earth days (or 1 lunar day). Though it is possible that there might be an extension depending on how the equipment holds up, much like the USA's various Mars rovers.

Here's the ISRO's official mission site: https://www.isro.gov.in/chandrayaan2-home-0

 

[steve_bank]

Somebody should put a lunar a probe on Amazon, rocket not supplied.

 

[Gun Nut]

I want to hear the dialog between mission control and the astronauts.

"Bombay... we have a problem..."
"roger flight... I am so sorry you are having a problem but I would like to thank you for contacting mission control and I hope you find that I can answer all of your questions today. Before we begin I would like to point out that your contact is very important to us and we appreciate your business."
"uh... roger Bombay.. our flight manual says we flip flight control from standby to active now, but the switch is actually a three position and we cannot tell the setting"
"copy flight... I am so sorry that your manual says we flip flight control but their are three switches. There should not be three switches. Are you sure that you are in the space craft now?
uh.. "affirmative Bombay."
"OK flight... will you please shut down the craft, disconnect the flight computer from battery, and perform a memory wipe"
"uh..negative Bombay. We cannot shut down the computer in flight. We just need to know the correct position of the switch"
"copy flight. You cannot <garbled>. Since you cannot do the troubleshooting I cannot help you further. I hope you are happy with the support you have received and that I answered all of your questions. Mission Control is dedicated to our loyal astronauts and we always appreciate your business. If you do not mind, can you please answer the following survey about the support you have received... First, was your call answered promptly? was the representative polite? Did the representative offer you pleasantries? If you answered yes to all three questions then we have served our astronauts the best we can.

 

[Sarpedon]

The last of the orbit raising manuvers was completed today successfully. Next will be the switching to a lunar orbit, on the 14th.

 

[Sarpedon]

The first transfer orbit manuever was completed successfully today. There will be a series of other ones to get the spacecraft into lunar orbit and gradually lower for landing position.

Everything looks good at this point, but it also looked good at this point of the Israeli mission as well.

 

[Sarpedon]

Hey, I didn't post any updates because I was on vacation. The vehicle successfully transitioned to lunar orbit. There are some nice pictures on the mission website.

 

[Sarpedon]

Last update before landing: Lander has separated from Orbiter successfully. Landing scheduled for September 5, between 1:30 and 2:30 AM Indian time. Remember that India is 1/2 hour off of standard, so it will be 10-11 pm on the 4th in Europe, and 4-5pm EST in the USA.

 

[Harry Bosch]

Last update before landing: Lander has separated from Orbiter successfully. Landing scheduled for September 5, between 1:30 and 2:30 AM Indian time. Remember that India is 1/2 hour off of standard, so it will be 10-11 pm on the 4th in Europe, and 4-5pm EST in the USA.

Great news. Hopefully this will encourage India to stop fucking blowing up shit in space and threatening lower earth orbit.

 

[steve_bank]

Too late. LEO is littered with junk. NASA has an online plot of the debris.

A picture of a micro meteorite collision with a shuttle window showed a crater, did not go all the way through.

Once in a while the ISS has to doge something.

 

[Sarpedon]

I'm sorry, I got the day wrong somehow. It is to touch down at that time on the 7th (india time) and the 6th (europe and america time)

 

[Gun Nut]

Hopefully, they will do the needful.

 

[Sarpedon]

And, it crashed.What a shame!

 

[Shadowy Man]

Shot down?

 

[Sarpedon]

No.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

No.

That is exactly what the Molemen of the Moon want you to think.

 

[Gun Nut]

And, it crashed.What a shame!

So sorry. Please come again.

 

[Sarpedon]

While it has not been updated on the mission website, CNN is reporting that India is trying to get in contact with the lander, which might have landed gently enough to not be broke.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/asia/india-moon-landing-signal-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

The orbiter is working as planned, so not a complete loss, though it is hard to rack that up as a success when they previously sent a successful orbiter to Mars.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

While it has not been updated on the mission website, CNN is reporting that India is trying to get in contact with the lander, which might have landed crashed gently enough to not be broke.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/asia/india-moon-landing-signal-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

The orbiter is working as planned, so not a complete loss, though it is hard to rack that up as a success when they previously sent a successful orbiter to Mars.

FIFY

 

[Gun Nut]

Their Mission Control guy said that they know it impacted "pretty hard".
I doubt they will get any communications from it. If they do, it won't be much more than, "SQUEEEEEEEEEEE"