CHANDRAYAAN 2 Is Expected to create Space History by Landing on the Enigmatic Moon’s South Pole

ISRO says Chandrayaan-2 will attempt to soft land the lander and rover in a high plain between two craters, Manzinus C and Simpelius N, at altitude of about 70 south. ISRO Chairman K Sivan said the proposed soft landing on the Moon was going to be a “terrifying” moment as the ISRO has not done it before, whereas Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuvers were successfully carried out during the Chandrayaan-1 mission. The mission aims to further expand the knowledge about the moon through a detailed study of its topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and atmosphere, leading to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the moon, Sivan said. Once the maneuver starts from about 30 km to land on the surface of the moon, it will take 15 minutes. “This 15 minutes travel of lander is new to ISRO. It is for the first time we are going to another body where there is no atmosphere and using the propulsion system we will have to break the velocity and bring the vehicle safely to soft land. We will have to balance between the gravity and thrust. So we have to modulate the thrust of the engine,” he had said. Following the landing, the rover ‘Pragyaan’ will roll out from ‘Vikram’ between 5.30 am and 6.30 am IST.Meanwhile in Bengaluru, an official Spokesperson said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in the city to witness live, Chandrayaan-2’s landing module ‘Vikram’ trying to pull off a historic soft-landing on the lunar surface in the early hours of Saturday. ‘Vikram’ with rover ‘Pragyaan’ housed inside is expected to touch down on the surface of the moon on September 7  between 1.30 am and 2.30 am IST.A successful landing will make India the fourth country after Russia, the US and China to achieve a soft landing on the moon. It will be the first mission to the unexplored South Pole region of the Moon. Insisting that the enormity of flood-related damages in the state warranted maximum aid from the Centre, Karnataka Chief Minster B S Yediyurappa had recently said, he would apprise the situation to Prime Minister Modi during his Bengaluru visit on September seven. An official release issued by the Karnataka Government says  “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Bengaluru on September 6 and will view the Chandrayaan landing during the wee hours on September 7 at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) near Peenya, and will leave for Mumbai on the same day,” Karnataka government’s official release said.Around 60- 70 students from across the country will be watching live India’s proposed soft landing on the moon in the early hours of Saturday, along with Prime Minister Modi, ISRO has said. Two top scoring students in ISRO’s online space quiz contest from each State and Union territory have been invited by the space agency to watch at its center here the landing of Chandrayaan-2’s ‘Vikram’ module on the Moon. The entire Chandrayaan-2 mission revolves around the crucial soft landing that will be performed later tonight. Soft landing, like the name suggests, is a type of landing that does not result in any damage to a spacecraft. This allows the spacecraft to remain operational and carry out experiments. The Chandrayaan-1 mission, unlike Chandrayaan-2, saw an impact probe perform a ‘hard’ or crash landing on the Moon. The probe was alive until seconds before the crash, sending back data. However, the probe perished in the crash, says India TV.