Shakespearean Wine: Chandrayaan 2 landing Live: When and where to watch the soft-landing from ISRO's control room

Thursday, September 5, 2019

India’s second unmanned Moon mission — Chandrayaan 2 — is all set to soft-land on the moon at 1.55 am IST early morning on 7 September. After seeing success at every turn, the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter is currently orbiting the moon at an altitude of ~100 km from the surface. The Vikram lander, with the Pragyan rover inside it, has been placed in a lower orbit by ISRO.

If everything goes smoothly, the Vikram lander will begin its descent at 1.40 am IST. The propulsion system of the lander will play an important task here, breaking the velocity of the lander in a controlled fashion. The engines will be shut off well before the spacecraft touches the moon's surface, In the final seconds before landing, the Vikram lander will be assisted only by the moon's gravity and not the spacecraft's thrusters. This move will help the lander avoid the mini-plume of lunar dust from covering the lander — and more importantly, its solar panels.

An illustration of Vikram lander and Pragyan rover on lunar surface. Image: ISRO

From the 30 km orbit the lander will use till the landing is a 15-minute window of "terror". This 15-minute flight is one that ISRO has never attempted before, making Chandrayaan 2 the most complex mission ISRO has ever undertaken, in the view of ISRO's Chairman Dr K Sivan.

There are multiple sources to choose from to watch the landing live.