What Went Wrong with Chandrayaan-2 Mission and How it was Rectified

All eyes were set on the Chandrayaan-2 as it was prepared to launch on July 20, 2022, at 14:43 hrs IST, by GSLV MkIII-M1 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. India's second attempt at this lunar mission cannot be forgotten to date by us Indians. Although it was intended to land softly on the Moon's South Pole, but was later discovered that it got failed when the Lander Vikram lost contact with the ground station during its landing procedure and collided with the moon.

For several months, the Chandryaan-2 crash remained a mystery; nobody knew the actual reason behind the collision, while ISRO, a space organization that never backed off from sharing insights and discoveries with its public, chose to remain silent for months. However, after months the Failure Analysis Committee concluded with a statement that the crash was caused by a software glitch, causing it to deviate from its planned trajectory and speed. The software also limited the Lander’s ability to correct errors, resulting in a harsh landing.

Chandrayaan-3 carried the same dream of Chandrayaan-2 but with more technological advancements and software updates this time with intent to achieve the same mission: making a soft landing on the Moon. The mission improved the engines' performance, the guidance system's accuracy, the Lander’s flexibility, and the system's reliability. The mission also adopted a layer-2 protocol to enhance the communication and data transfer between the Lander and the orbiter.

And finally, on August 23, 2023, these improvements led Chandrayaan-3 to land on the Moon smoothly avoiding the crash. No-doubt, Chandrayaan-3 was a remarkable achievement for India and a testament to its resilience and innovation in space exploration. The mission not only showcased India's ability to land on the Moon, but also opened new opportunities for scientific discoveries and applications.