15 Minutes of Terror as Vikram Lander of Chandrayan 2 Tries to Soft Land on Moon South Pole Tonight

The lunar module of chandrayaan 2 comprises of an Orbiter, Vikam Lander and  Pragyan Rover. On 2nd September, the (Vikram lander + Pragyan Rover ) module said good bye to the orbiter and seperated from the orbiter. Vikram lander now orbiting at 30x100km as shown in an elliptical oribit.

When the lander arrives south pole at altitude of 30 km above the surface, at 1:40 am, the powered descent will start at a speed of 6120 km/h. With in next 10 minutes, the altitude drops to 7.4 km and speed reduced to just 526 km/h. By11 minutes 8 sec, the lander drops to 5 km and speed is 331km/h and the craft is tilted by 50 degrees. By 12 minutes 37 sec, height drops to just 400 meters and navigational instruments identify the landing site. By 13 minutes 55 sec, it drops to just 100m and  the craft is now ready to touch down. It senses hazards and makes adjustments as moon is full of craters. By  15 minutes ,It then drops to 10 m and fires retro rockets to make a soft-landing as the lunar dust flyes into air. And then releases, the Pragyan rover if everything goes well.