ISRO organises free workshop for public on second anniversary of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has opened its gate for public interaction as it is organising a two-day online workshop, on September 6 and 7, to commemorate the second functional year of ISRO's ambitious 'Chandrayaan-2' spacecraft. Besides, ISRO chairman and Secretary in Department of Space (DoS), K Sivan, will also share data of the aforementioned mission with the public for collective analysis after the inauguration. 

"The science data are being made available for analysis by academia and institutes, for a greater participation to bring out more science from Chandrayaan-2 mission," ISRO said, as per PTI.  

What Is Chandrayaan 2?

Chandrayaan-2 is ISRO's second lunar mission, launched on July 22, 2019, and it was intended to explore the untouched southern pole of the moon. The payload included a lunar orbiter, the Vikram lander (named after Vikram Sarabhai) and the Pragyan lunar rover.

Unfortunately, the lander that was carrying the rover, crash-landed in September 2019 as the scientists lost control over it 500m above the lunar surface. However, ISRO's orbiter is still functional and is extracting and examining the lunar data in the polar orbit at an altitude of 100km from the Moon's surface.

Why this workshop?

The two-day workshop is being organised to effectively reach students, academia and institutes, and to engage the scientific community to analyse Chandrayaan-2 data. In the virtual meet, science results from the eight payloads are being presented by the scientists. In addition, there will be lectures on the Chandrayaan-2 mission, tracking, operations, and data archival aspects. As per reports, data from the eight payloads are being shared with the public. 

Along with the scientists from ISRO/DoS, there will also be lectures on lunar science to be delivered by scientists from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.

How to connect?

Interested science enthusiasts can tune in to the live streaming sessions for free through the space agency's website and Facebook page. Reportedly, the workshop will be conducted in two sessions on the first day, and in four sessions on the second day.

(IMAGE CREDITS: PTI)