Odisha News, Odisha Latest news, Odisha Daily - OrissaPOST
  • Home
  • Trending
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Feature
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • More..
    • Odisha Special
    • Editorial
    • Opinion
    • Careers
    • Sci-Tech
    • Timeout
    • Horoscope
    • Today’s Pic
  • Video
  • Epaper
  • News in Odia
  • Home
  • Trending
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Feature
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • More..
    • Odisha Special
    • Editorial
    • Opinion
    • Careers
    • Sci-Tech
    • Timeout
    • Horoscope
    • Today’s Pic
  • Video
  • Epaper
  • News in Odia
No Result
View All Result
OrissaPOST - Odisha Latest news, English Daily -
No Result
View All Result

Little chances of Vikram surviving hard landing, says expert

IANS
Updated: September 21st, 2019, 21:34 IST
in Sci-Tech
0
Chandrayaan-2: #BhaiLandKarade trending on social media
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare on Linkedin

Chicago:  The Vikram moon lander likely crashed at about 184 miles per hour (mph), a speed at which nothing of value could have survived, a highly respected Indian American mechanical engineer, specialising in such critical failures has calculated.

Dr. Bharat Thakkar, 77, a veteran of quality control and reliability of systems, who has taught at several prestigious institutions here in Chicago, has raised several fundamental questions about the lander. “These questions may be uncomfortable to those lay observers not trained in mechanics, projectile motion, horizontal and vertical velocities etc. They certainly go beyond any politics and ideology,” Dr. Thakkar told this correspondent in an interview.

Also Read

Explained_Why Fevicol, Fevikwik don't stick to their own containers

Explained: Why Fevicol, Fevikwik don’t stick to their own containers

1 day ago

Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX hit by $44.2 million security breach

2 days ago

“Vikram was designed for soft landing. Is it true that there was no contingency in design for free fall any time during moon landing or any other time during Chandrayaan-2 mission? Expecting Vikram to function after free fall is a false hope similar to a dead person’ coming alive. Pulling the plug on brain dead’ is the right attitude. Expecting for divine intervention is very much cultural phenomenon in India,” he said.

However, beyond that broad criticism, Dr. Thakkar, a long time well-wisher of India’s science and technology who was a key member of the C-DOT generated telecom revolution, made some very specific technical points. One relates to whether there was consideration in Vikram’s design about “the moon’s �coefficient of restitution’ at the predetermined landing location”.

“Upon free-falling from a 2.1 km height, Vikram would have bounced back and forth more than ten times in upright position (positive thinking) before coming to rest at a different location with a different coefficient of restitution than originally planned. During bouncing back and forth, the pre-determined centre of gravity of Vikram could have gone into anon-equilibrium position upon the first impact. Thus, is it not hopeless to think for Vikram to stay in upright position,” he asked.

“A post-mortem must be carried out in terms of the mechanical design of Vikram. What was the factor of safety used in the dynamic mechanical design of Vikram? Was it even considered? These are the questions that need to be asked to ensure that upcoming missions do not suffer a similar fate,” he said.

In arriving at the figure of a 184 mph crash, Dr. Thakkar, who calls himself as a great admirer of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) passion, said: “Free fall velocity can be closer to square root of 2gh. Where g is one-sixth of earth (32.2 feet per sec2) h = 2.1 km = approximately 7,000 feet. With this free fall velocity of 270 ft per second = 184 miles per hour, nothing can survive at that speed.”

“I am assuming �free-fall’ but it is not exactly so. It is a minor thing but needs to be mentioned. At 2.1 km height, because of existing trajectory, there must be initial downward velocity. This is equivalent to forcing the tennis ball downward with a velocity that can rebound greater than free-fall. This downward velocity and coefficient of restitution combined can give us worst first bounce than I mentioned earlier.

“In my opinion, only the first hit, may have crushed Vikram. There could have been no chance for subsequent bouncing. However, theoretically it is possible to have more bouncing like a tennis ball but Vikram is not a tennis ball,” Dr. Thakkar reasoned.

“Anything four-legged falling does not necessarily hit all four legs at the same time depending upon the profile of moon’s surface. It is always one leg touching first and taking all the forces due to free falling. If one leg is weakened, the rest cannot help the situation. The deformations that are plastic are not recoverable in metal and materials. Anyone making prediction with a common sense, Vikram was destroyed as soon as it hit the moon ground,” he said.

Dr. Thakkar said since it involves a large sum of public money, ISRO and those involved must ask difficult questions of themselves beyond just sentimentalism. “ISRO is a great enterprise and has done India proud. I am sure it has within its DNA the ability to ask brutally honest questions and come up with rational answers,” he said.

(IANS)

Tags: Bharat ThakkarChandrayaan-2ISROMoon landerVikram
ShareTweetSendShare
Suggest A Correction

Enter your email to get our daily news in your inbox.

 

OrissaPOST epaper Sunday POST OrissaPOST epaper

Click Here: Plastic Free Odisha

slide 2 to 4 of 30
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Sipra Mishra

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Saishree Satyarupa

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Adweeti Bhattacharya

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Subhajyoti Mohanty

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Priyasha Pradhan

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Anasuya Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Surya Sidhant Rath

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Subhajyoti Mohanty

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Faiza Firdous

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

D Rama Rao

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Anshuman Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Pratik Kumar

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Spinoj Pattnaik

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Geetanjali Patro

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Shreyanshu Bal

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Matrumangal Jena

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Pragyan Priyambada

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Archit Mohapatra

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Akshaya Kumar Dash

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Praptimayee Biswal

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Anup Mahapatra

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Smitarani Sahoo

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Diptiranjan Biswal

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Sibarama Khotei

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Swarit Praharaj

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Aishwarya Ranjan Mohanty

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Pitabas Tripathy

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Sarfraz Ahmad

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Aman Kumar Barisal

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Vandana Singh

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Sipra Mishra

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Saishree Satyarupa

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Adweeti Bhattacharya

December 12, 2019
#MyPaperBagChallenge

Subhajyoti Mohanty

December 12, 2019

Archives

Select Month

    Editorial

    Voting At 16

    Ballot Box
    July 22, 2025

    It has long been held that when one is young, one tends to subscribe to pro-poor and people-oriented progressive politics,...

    Read more

    Water Bomb

    OPiate
    July 21, 2025

    On 19 July, China began constructing a $167.8 billion dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, close to the Indian...

    Read more

    Wild Swing

    July 20, 2025

    The BJP is seen today as a corporate-friendly political party, and this is the view held by both the party’s...

    Read more

    Indefinite Tenure

    Power of Continuity
    July 19, 2025

    There was a time when “superannuation” meant something. Now it’s just the date you pencil in until the next extension...

    Read more
    • Home
    • State
    • Metro
    • National
    • International
    • Business
    • Editorial
    • Opinion
    • Sports
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Jobs
    Developed By Ratna Technology

    © 2024 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST

    • News in Odia
    • Orissa POST Epaper
    • Video
    • Home
    • Trending
    • Metro
    • State
    • Odisha Special
    • National
    • International
    • Sports
    • Business
    • Editorial
    • Entertainment
    • Horoscope
    • Careers
    • Feature
    • Today’s Pic
    • Opinion
    • Sci-Tech
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Jobs

    © 2024 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST

      • News in Odia
      • Orissa POST Epaper
      • Video
      • Home
      • Trending
      • Metro
      • State
      • Odisha Special
      • National
      • International
      • Sports
      • Business
      • Editorial
      • Entertainment
      • Horoscope
      • Careers
      • Feature
      • Today’s Pic
      • Opinion
      • Sci-Tech
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Jobs

      © 2024 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST