Chandrayaan 2: Vikram hard-landed within 500 meters of landing site: Govt

Chandrayaan-2's Vikram lander hard-landed as reduction in velocity during its descent was more than the designed parameters, the government said on Wednesday throwing more light on ISRO's dashed hopes of making a soft landing on the lunar surface in its maiden attempt.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Jitendra Singh, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, who looks after the department of space, said the first phase of descent was performed nominally from an altitude of 30 kms to 7.4 kms above the moon's surface and velocity was reduced from 1,683 metres per second to 146 metres per second.

"During the second phase of descent, the reduction in velocity was more than the designed value. Due to this deviation, the initial conditions at the start of the fine braking phase were beyond the designed parameters. As a result, Vikram hard-landed within 500 metres of the designated landing site," he said.

Singh, however, said most components of technology demonstration, including the launch, orbital critical maneuvers, lander separation, de-boost and rough braking phase were successfully accomplished. Read Complete Article