CHANDRAYAAN-ISRO

India may again attempt soft landing on Moon next November
    Bengaluru, Nov 14 (PTI) After an unsuccessful bid two
months ago, India may attempt another soft landing on the Moon
by next year-end, probably in November, sources in ISRO said
on Thursday.
    The Indian Space Research Organisation had constituted
a high-level committee, headed by S Somanath, Director of
Thiruvanathapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the lead
centre responsible for all launch vehicle programmes of ISRO,
to prepare a report on the proposed Chandrayaan-3.
    "The panel's report is awaited. The committee has been
given a guideline to prepare the mission before the end of
next year," a senior ISRO official told PTI.
    "There is a good launch window in November".
    "Rover, lander and landing operations will get more
focus this time and whatever deficiencies in the Chandrayaan-2
mission will be corrected," sources in the Bengaluru-
headquartered space agency said.
    On September 7, ISRO attempted a soft landing of
Chandrayaan-2's 'Vikram' on the unchartered lunar south pole,
before losing communication with the lander.
    A national level committee consisting of academics and
ISRO experts, headed by V Narayanan, Director of the space
agency's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, has analysed the
cause of communication loss with the lander.
    The members of the panel included those from VSSC and
U R Rao Satellite Centre.
    "This committee has pin-pointed as to what went wrong.
They have prepared a voluminous report and are believed to
have submitted it to the Space Commission," an ISRO official
said.
    "It's expected to be put in the public domain after
the approval of the PMO," the official said. PTI RS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)