More #Space Updates: @isro , which has a packed 2022 has made considerable progress on #Chandrayaan3. With many related hardware and special tests successfully completed, the team is moving closer to integrated testing. Launch targeted this year. Maybe August. #Thread 
@isro chairman S Somanath told me late last month: “Chandrayaan-3 has been going through a series of reviews, improvements, and strengthening. Some of these are based on the issues we’ve seen earlier....
...But the issues we’ve learnt so far may not be the only ones. The questions are many and we need to foresee a lot of them which may further require corrections. The hardware is under realisation too.”
While Somanath is expected to conduct a formal review later this month, @DrJitendraSingh has said that based on learnings from Chandrayaan2 and suggestions made by national level experts, #Chandrayaan3 realisation is in progress. “The launch is scheduled for August 2022.”
According to more than one scientist associated with the project, testing and fabrication of the lander and other systems that will be part of #Chandrayaan3 is ongoing at various Isro centres while design changes have been nearly finalised.
@isro conceived #Chandrayaan3 after it failed to soft-land CY2's Vikram on Moon while it still has a fully operational orbiter going around. Initially planned for late 2020 or 2021, the department of space (DoS), owing to #COVID19 and other reasons is yet to launch it.
“...Because we need a specific launch window, we need to work towards a deadline, failing which it will have to move to the next year. But the top management is very clear that all steps in the process will be complete before we actually launch the mission,” a source said.
In his New Year message on January 3, then Isro chairman K Sivan had said: “Chandrayaan-3 design changes incorporating and testing has seen huge progress. The mission could be launched by the middle of the year.”
As reported first by me, #Chandrayaan3 will see major design changes compared to the previous mission, key among which is the decision to drop the fifth engine, which was added last minute on Vikram (Chandrayaan-2’s lander).
The lander for this mission will have only four engines, while the overseeing committee has also suggested a minor modification on the legs on the lander, inclusion of the laser doppler velocimeter (LDV) for better measurement of speed during landing, among other things.
The modifications being proposed on #Chandrayaan3 — which were indicators of shortcomings in #Chandrayaan2 — also include changes in software and algorithms, strengthening of the legs, and better power and communication systems.
That #Budget2022, among other things has listed one mission of #GSLVMk3 is also seen as reasons for optimism so far as #Chandrayaan3 is concerned.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
