Chandrayaan-3 lander establishes communication line with Chandrayaan-2 orbiter: ‘Welcome, buddy’

The orbiter had played a role in identifying a safe landing spot for Chandrayaan-3 and is now ready to facilitate communications between the Chandrayaan-3 lander and the ground stations.

Lunar far side area as imaged from the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC) onboard Chandrayaan-3 on August 19, 2023. (Photo: X/@isro)

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Ahead of its scheduled Moon landing on Wednesday, Chandrayaan-3’s lander module established contact with the Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter, opening up another line of communication with Earth. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the orbiter greeted the lander with the message “welcome, buddy”.

ISRO also posted images of the far side of the Moon captured by the lander on X (formerly Twitter). “Here are the images of Lunar far side area captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC). This camera that assists in locating a safe landing area — without boulders or deep trenches — during the descent is developed by ISRO at SAC [Space Applications Centre].”

The photos were released a day after Russia’s Luna-25 crashed into the Moon. A success for Chandrayaan-3 would make India the first country to land on the unexplored lunar south pole.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
‘Welcome, buddy!’
Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM.

Two-way communication between the two is established.

MOX has now more routes to reach the LM.

Update: Live telecast of Landing event begins at 17:20 Hrs. IST.#Chandrayaan_3 #Ch3

— ISRO (@isro) August 21, 2023

“‘Welcome, buddy!’ Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM [lander module]. Two way communication between the two is established. MOX [Missions Operations Complex] has now more routes to reach the LM,” the Indian space agency said in another post.

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Though Chandrayaan-2 failed to land on the Moon’s surface, its orbiter functioned normally and carried out experiments as designed. It has been in lunar orbit for the last four years. The ISRO had said the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter would help the Chandrayaan-3 mission in different ways.

Explained | How the Chandrayaan-3 lander will make a soft-landing on the Moon

The orbiter had played a role in identifying a safe landing spot for Chandrayaan-3 and is now ready to facilitate communications between the Chandrayaan-3 lander and the ground stations.

Chandrayaan-3 mission’s communication network with earth stations has been configured in a manner that the lander will send data to the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter which will, in turn, relay it to ISRO’s ground stations. The Chandrayaan-3 lander is also capable of communicating directly with the Earth.

“The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is functioning very well and it will communicate with the Chandrayaan-3 lander. This signal will reach the ground station,” ISRO Chairman S Somanath said in a public interaction on August 9. “Suppose, for any reason, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is not working properly, then the Chandrayaan-3 lander will communicate directly with earth. For the rover (which will be released after a safe and soft landing), the communication is only with the lander and the lander will communicate with the orbiter or earth stations.”

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