The Vikram lander has been found, but the odds that it is in working condition are long. Doppler data indicate it landed at more than 110 miles per hour.https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/science/india-chandrayaan-2-vikram.html …
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Replying to @kchangnyt
IF the lander is intact & titled, as stated, it is highly unlikely that is came down, presumably with some horizontal velocity component at 110 mph. Those two things are in conflict with eachother. Doppler data is good for state changes not precise trajectory reconstruction.
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Replying to @Doctor_Astro
The ISRO statement does not say intact and tilted. (Only an unnamed official said that.) We haven’t seen any photos from the orbiter at 100 km.
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Replying to @kchangnyt
Hence the word IF. But your article is also based off of data from an unofficial source, an independent team monitoring a signal. So both unofficial sources appear to be in conflict with eachother.
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Replying to @Doctor_Astro
Yes, which is why I wrote the rest of the article about how spacecraft control systems generally are unable to recover from a major unexpected anomaly during landing. It would be incredible (and wonderful!) if Vikram made it to the surface intact.
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Replying to @kchangnyt
More info is needed to draw conclusions. Doppler data is good for change in speed not absolute, certainly as these these levels. So using their conclusion on impact speed IM(expert)O is inaccurate.
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Doppler gives you line-of-sight velocity, not just acceleration, correct?
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