With just two days to go before Vikram module makes a soft landing on the Moon on August 23, Nair said that the maneouvere will be “very complex” and one has to be cautious as all systems have to work in unison for its success.
Nair, who headed the space agency when Chandrayaan-1 mission was launched in 2008, told PTI that a successful moon landing would herald a big beginning for Isro’s next phase of planetary exploration.
The former space agency’s head remarks comes a day after Isro successfully completed the second deboosting operation to bring the lander module further closer to the Moon.
Speaking about the final maneouvre, Nair recalled that Isro narrowly missed it with Chandrayaan-2 in the last 2 kilometres above the lunar surace.
“… there are a host of things that have to work in unison … thrusters, sensors, altimeters, computer software and all those things. Any glitch happening anywhere … we can be in trouble,” Nair said.
The former Isro chief, however, expressed confidence that the module will be able to land successfully.
“We have to be really cautious and watch. Of course, I understand that Isro has done enough simulations and also redundancies have been built in so that chances of such failure are remote. Still, we have to keep our fingers crossed,” he added.
According to ISRO, the lander module with the rover ‘Pragyan’ in its belly is expected to touch down on the Lunar surface around 6.04 pm on Wednesday.
Nair said that the data we may collect from the (lunar) surface will be useful in identifying some rare minerals.
(With inputs from PTI)