Congrats to all of the team at ISRO. Assuming the software development for these is non trivial; Its interesting that with the last mission(per Scott Manly) was designed to always select a spot(or more precisely a trajectory) and try hit it.<p>What made them make that decision? Was it like "lets be as precise as we can because we want to get to the spot X because X is special" and thus "Lets let the software always compensate for any errors to get to X". I am assuming that even at this point they tested the software for extreme conditions. It is most likely that once this assumption was made the Software was built that way, i.e: "Lets test the Software can always correct for any issues to get to X with feedback(like thrust)". It trades off Safety for Accuracy(to hit X).<p>This time the idea was "Lets select a trajectory to X" but this time "We will let the software prioritize safety(altitude, speed and heading) to be within norm once we start descending <i>towards</i> X". And additionally "Not make any corrections if we are somehow too far off X if it exceeds safety limits". It trades off Accuracy(to hit X) for Safety.
Scott Manly has a video on why he thinks the last one failed. It sounds like their landing software didn't have "oh crap, we're way off course, just land wherever". It only had the happy path of "fly to here and land", so when it switched to the landing phase it tried valiently (including flying upside down) to try to fly back to the landing zone, but the landing zone was much further than fuel supplies allowed.<p>Hopefully they have upgraded software to just gracefully attempt a landing, and hopefully they won't be off course.
Especially impressive when taken into account that ISRO couldn't achieve the soft-landing with Chandrayaan-2 four years ago.<p>One of the big things they changed with this lander compared to Chandrayaan-2 was to increase the landing zone from 500mx500m to 4000mx4000m and adding more sensors and cameras to help the computer find a good landing site.<p>For those who didn't watch live, there was another hover phase (0 m/s descent) at 150m above the lunar surface before final commit.
Firstly - congratulations to the whole team on this achievement<p>I'm also curious<p>- Why the south pole of the moon? does it have an added significance vs other locations on the moon?<p>- Is a landing on the south pole more difficult to achieve? Seems so according to this article: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/science/why-are-space-agencies-racing-moons-south-pole-2023-08-22/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.reuters.com/science/why-are-space-agencies-racin...</a>
This is such a difficult achievement.
And they did it spending USD 75 Million, almost 2x less the costs of production of the Interestelar movie.<p>Very well done, India. Respect!
Currently in a live server with others watching and it's a lot of fun. I happen to know many people working in the space industry, and a lot of great engineers come from India. Very happy and excited for India and its people. Goodluck!<p>edit: lets goo!!!
If I read correctly, this is now the most watched live video on YouTube! Congratulations to India and the team on this fantastic feat of an achievement.
Congratulations to everyone involved. This is amazing. India has come so far in its space program. Leaps and bounds. It’s astonishing to witness. While SpaceX has the look - Chandrayaan has the function. Now get Jeb back home!!
One of the clocks is labeled "IST," which I assume means India Standard Time.<p>Another clocks are labeled "GHY," "HAW," and "BIK." What do they indicate?
I was trying to find the schedule for the rover including on ISRO's website[1], but the closest I could find was this[2] and this[3] that suggest the rover will be rolled out in the next few hours or may be tomorrow and it has a life expectancy of one lunar day(14 earth days). Anyone knows if it will be streamed as well?<p>[1] <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3.html</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/chandrayaan-3-mission-to-moon-on-schedule-system-check-underway/article67222299.ece" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/chandrayaan-3-miss...</a><p>[3] <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/23/science/india-moon-landing-chandrayaan-3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/23/science/india-moon-l...</a>
Streaming YouTube link <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/DLA_64yz8Ss">https://www.youtube.com/live/DLA_64yz8Ss</a>
Does anybody know if we will be watching a simulation or actual footage?<p>I am asking because the livestream of the last failed moonlanding this year didn't feature <i>a single second</i> of footage. None.
This is a big achievement for India. Not just in space exploration point of view but the side effects of such projects are more interesting.<p>Dozens of major private companies focused on making this success making various spare parts including steel cranes by Tata steel, special alloys of Mishra Dhatu Nigam (The Alloy Company), wings by L&T Aero etc. etc. I know some people here and they were so proud and focused on "excellence" which I think is often missing in what we Indians normally do.<p>Space programs are important because of precision required. It created a discipline and desire for perfection not just for ISRO but for all their suppliers and vendors. Hope this habit spreads.
The moment of landing: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dim8elzo5vE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dim8elzo5vE</a><p>When I look at this, it seems it's a long-range optical feed of the moon surface with lander graphics laid over it. Has anyone found footage of the actual craft touching down? It would be amazing to see.
Not asking rhetorically but why is this a big deal? Is it because it's going to the south pole? What are some other benefits to be gained from this?
Landing on the Moon isn't easy and making it on the second try is pretty good, it took the USSR tons of tries to finally get a good soft landing. And recently we've seen groups from Russia, Japan, and Israel try to land softly on the moon without success.
Any space mission is fairly complex no matter the agency private or public.<p>For me the most interesting part to watch personally was the telemetry. What's the latency involved here, do they have agency in terms of manual overrides and intervention in case things go wrong?<p>What does RTT look like, are there more efficient encoding of data to allow minimal information?
It will be cool to send a buddy drone with these landers. A minute or so before the touch down, detach from lander and shoot the landing. Then go back and attach with lander for charging and do periodic flights.
Can someone help me understand this Wikipedia article section: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan_programme#List_of_missions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan_programme#List_of_...</a><p>Check the row for Chandrayaan-2. Why does it say Unsuccessful landing but main mission success and extended missing ongoing?<p>What exactly are main mission and extended mission and how can they succeed or be ongoing when the landing has been unsuccessful?
Congrats to the team at ISRO!<p>It makes me wonder, what is it that ISRO does differently than most other government agencies in India that makes them so efficient.
Interesting how close politicians are with anything related to the moon. Nixon on TV as much as the astronauts in 69, Modi on TV here. Both during massive consolidations of power towards the leaders who also have major corruption scandals.
What makes this a "WoWW!", is not that this is the first time humans sent something to the moon, but when one factors in the budget relative to others.<p>Although, I do not have reference for what the exact budget was/is.
Some photos of ISRO in early days
<a href="https://www.reddit.com/gallery/15z1vfs" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.reddit.com/gallery/15z1vfs</a>
<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chandrayaan-3-makes-historic-touchdown-on-the-moon/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chandrayaan-3-mak...</a> good read on the entire thing.
To appreciate how difficult it could be, play with the Lunar Lander! ;)<p><a href="http://moonlander.seb.ly/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://moonlander.seb.ly/</a>
Despite all the sour comments trying to find fault and criticize, this is a remarkable achievement, especially on the heels of the failed Chandrayaan-2 mission. Congrats to the team!!! Just 4 years to recover from the failure and achieve a phenomenal success. India just keeps executing despite what others may say.<p>The team deserves even more praise to be able to achieve these wins with limited resources.
Congratulations India! And everyone.<p>Actually congratulations to all countries still running space programmes including Russia's failure.<p>The more the merrier.<p>This is a stupendously difficult thing to do, India is truly a superpower.
An embarrassing day for America.<p>The country that first visited the Moon should have explored the lunar south pole decades ago. Then the dark side of the moon. Then a manned colony.<p>Instead we are beaten by a foreign nation to the south pole. And our next project is a manned landing on the moon, which we already accomplished in the 1960s.