Pros and Cons of Chandrayaan-2 || Isro Lunar expedition

Chandrayaan-2 

Mission Chandrayaan-2 "mooncraft"; is the second lunar exploration mission developed
by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), after Chandrayaan-1. It consisted of a lunar orbiter, the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar rover, all of which were developed in India.The main scientific objective is to map and study the variations in lunar surface composition, as well as the location and abundance of lunar water.

Chandrayaan-2

The mission was launched on its course to the Moon from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 22 July 2019 at 2.43 PM IST (09:13 UTC) by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III).The craft reached the
Moon's orbit on 20 August 2019 and began orbital positioning manoeuvres for the landing of the Vikram lander.Vikram and the rover were scheduled to land on the near side  of the Moon, in the south polar region at a latitude of about 70° south at  approximately 20:23 UTC on 6 September 2019 and conduct scientific experiments for one  lunar day, which approximates two Earth weeks.

However, the lander deviated from its intended trajectory starting at  2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) altitude, and had lost communication when touchdown  confirmation was expected. Initial reports suggesting a crash have been confirmed by ISRO chairman K. Sivan, stating that the lander location had been found,  and "it must have been a hard landing".

Both ISRO and NASA tried unsuccessfully to communicate with the lander for two weeks before the lunar night set in. The orbiter, part of the mission with eight scientific instruments, remains operational and is expected to continue its seven-year mission to study the Moon.

The primary objectives of the Chandrayaan-2 lander were to demonstrate the ability to 
soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover on the surface. Scientific goals include orbital studies of lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exosphere, and signatures of hydroxyl and water ice.The orbiter will map the lunar surface and help to prepare 3D maps of it. The onboard radar will also map the surface while studying the water ice in the south polar region and thickness of the lunar regolith on the surface.

The mission was launched on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III(GSLV Mk III) with an approximate lift-off mass of 3,850 kg (8,490 lb) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island.As of June 2019, the mission has an allocated cost of ₹978 crore (approximately US$141 million) which includes ₹603 crore for space segment and ₹375 crore as launch costs on GSLV Mk III.Chandrayaan-2 stack was initially put in an Earth parking orbit of 170 km perigee and 40,400 km apogee by the launch vehicle.


Obscured in the Lunar Highlands?

Lunar Space Where Chandrayaan-2 disappear 

The Chandrayaan-2 lander, Vikram, attempted a landing Sept. 7 
(Sept. 6 in the United States), on a small patch of lunar highland smooth plains between Simpelius N and Manzinus C craters. Vikram had a hard landing and the precise location of the spacecraft in the lunar highlands has yet to be determined. The scene above was captured from a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Quickmap fly-around of the targeted landing site image width is about 150 kilometers across the center.

A view looking down on the Vikram landing site (image acquired before the landing attempt), image width 87 kilometers (54 miles) .

Credits: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

The lander, Vikram, was scheduled to touch down on Sept. 6 at 4:24 pm Eastern Daylight Time. This event was India's first attempt at a soft landing on the Moon. The site was located about 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the south pole in a relatively ancient 
terrain (70.8°S latitude, 23.5°E longitude). In order to visualize the site, take a quick fly-around. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) passed over the landing site on Sept.17 and acquired a set of high resolution images of the area; so far the LROC team has 
not been able to locate or image the lander.  It was dusk when the landing area was imaged and thus large shadows covered much of the terrain; it is possible that the Vikram lander is hiding in a shadow. The lighting will be favorable when LRO passes 
over the site in October and once again attempts to locate and image the lander.

A wide view of a series of Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter Camera's narrow angle camera images collected on Sept. 17 showing the area of the targeted Vikram landing site. The pixel scale is 28314 pixels by 1041 lines. The resolution is 34 meters per pixel. The full resolution mosaic can be found at: http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/1128. Note this mosaic is quite large (28314 pixels by 57851 lines) with approximately 900 million illuminated pixels (1.25 meter pixels, 1000 meter grid, polar stereographic projection)

Credits: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

Credits: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University