Enumerate the features of Chandrayaan 2 in detail along with the challenges it will have to face.
Chandrayaan 2 is India�s second mission to the Moon. It will be ISRO�s first inter-planetary mission to land rover on any celestial body.
Features of the mission
- It has been developed indigenously by ISRO
- It consists of an orbiter, lander and rover configuration
- The 3,800-kg spacecraft includes an orbiter which will circle the moon at 100 km
- A five-legged lander called�Vikram will descend on the moon. It will soft-land on the lunar surface at a specified site and deploy a rover Pragyan
- The rover will move on the lunar surface and will pick up soil or rock samples for on-site chemical analysis
- It will collect scientific information on lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice
- It will perform the objectives of remote sensing the moon
Challenges to the mission
Ensuring trajectory accuracy: The distance between moon and earth is large. Navigating such a large distance poses many challenges as trajectory is influenced by the non-uniform gravity of the earth and moon, gravitational pull of other astronomical bodies, solar radiation pressure, and the moons true orbital motion.
Deep space communication:� Due to the large distance from earth and limited on- board power, radio signals used for communication are weak with heavy background noise.
Trans Lunar Injection and Lunar capture: As the moon�s location is continually changing due to orbital motion, the intersection of Chandrayaan 2 and the Moon�s path has to be predicted sufficiently in advance with a high level of accuracy.
Soft landing on the moon: The on-board NGC and propulsion system has to work in union, autonomously, and automatically for a successful landing. Further, the landing site landscape features should not result in a communication shadow area.
Orbiting around the moon is a challenge: Lunar gravity is �lumpy� due to uneven mass distribution under its surface and it influences the orbit of the spacecraft.
Lunar dust is major issue: The lunar dust stick to most surfaces, causing a disruption in deployment mechanisms, solar panel performance, and NGC sensor performances.
Extreme temperature and hard vacuum: It makes the lunar surface extremely hostile environment for lander and rover operations.
According to ISRO Chandrayaan-2 will be the most complex mission undertaken by ISRO. It is because the landing on moon involves multiple challenges.