Panel of Experts of ISRO analysing cause of Vikram’s failure

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday said its own experts and a national committee of academicians are studying the cause of the failure of moon lander Vikram.

In a statement issued after the loss of Vikram on September 7 while landing on the moon, ISRO said a national committee of academicians and ISRO experts are analysing the cause of communication loss with Vikram.

However, the ISRO statement is silent on the members of the national committee of academicians, the committee chief and the time frame by which their report will be shared with the nation.

The lander was also carrying a rover Pragyan which was to roll down from Vikram if it had soft landed instead of crash landing.

On July 22, the Rs 978 crore Chandrayaan-2 was launched into the space by India’s heavy lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) in a text book style.

The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprised three segments — the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads), Vikram (1,471 kg, four payloads) and Pragyan (27 kg, two payloads).

After five earth-bound orbit raising activities, Chandrayaan-2 was inserted into the lunar orbit. On September 2, Vikram separated from the orbiter.

According to ISRO, the performance of all Orbiter payloads is satisfactory.

The Orbiter continues to perform scheduled science experiments to the complete satisfaction of ISRO.