ISRO has set a milestone in space history through the success of the Chandrayaan 3 mission. The safe landing of Chandrayaan 3 has made history on the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan 3 mission made India the first country to soft land on the south pole of the lunar. The historic date of landing is 23 AUG 2024. The Chandrayaan 3 involves the soft landing and roving on the surface for experimental purposes.
Chandrayaan 3 Mission
ISRO used the LVM3 rocket system to launch Chandrayaan 3, a new launch vehicle of ISRO that is cost-effective for the GTO-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. The LMV3 launch vehicle has three stages, two solid and one liquid. Let’s discuss the objectives of the Chandrayaan 3 mission.
Chandrayaan 3 Mission: Objectives
ISRO is looking for water ice on the surface of the Moon as we all can depict that life on Earth has a limit. The objective of Chandrayaan 3 is to check if life on the moon is possible or not. The other objective of Chandrayaan 3 is to supply files for future missions for spacecraft on the moon. Chandrayaan 3 works as per below aims.
- the Chandrayaan 3 must land safely on the Lunar surface and the landing should be soft
- the ISRO used the Rover for roving over the moon’s surface
- rover is used to perform scientific experiments
Parts of the Chandrayaan 3 Mission
Let’s elaborate on the parts of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, the Chandrayaan-3 mission comprises two parts. They are the PM-propulsion module and the LM-Lander module. If we talk about the weight or mass of these modules, it is 3900 KG, PM has a mass of 2148 KG and LM has a mass of 1752 KG. The mass of the rover is 26 KG.
Propulsion Module
In the PM module, there is a lander and rover. These present until the 100 KM of the lunar orbit. The PM module also carries the SHAPE-Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth, this is the scientific payload. The ISRO uses the SHAPE Payload for spectro-polarimetric analyses of Earth from lunar orbit
Lander Module
The LM Modules have Vikarm and Pragyan, Vikram- is the Lander, and Pragyan- is the Rover. ISRO uses the Automatic Landing Sequence technique with the LM module for soft landing. The job of Lander is to start the engine, drive with speed, check the direction of the module, and check the position of the landing place. After the landing, the rover came out on the Moon’s surface for chemical analysis. To do experiments for knowing the presence of water or ice on the Moon under the mission life.
- The total time of life of Lander and Rover on the Moon is 14 days, these are 14 Earth days.
- The ISRO has put scientific payloads inside the Lander and Rover for experimental purposes on the Moon’s surface.
The purpose of scientific payloads inside the Lander and Rover are explained below.
Lander payloads:
- RAMBHA/Radio Anatomy of Moon – to check the plasma density fluctuations on the moon
- ChaSTE/Thermophysical Experiment- to check the thermal traits of the moon on the polar zones
- ILSA/Seismic Activity- to measure seismic activity for checking of crust-mantle configuration
- LRA/LASER Retroreflector Array – to check the dynamics of the Moon system
Rover payloads:
- APXS/Alpha Particle X-ray – to check the soil and rock composition on the moon
- LIBS/Breakdown Spectroscope with Laser- to check the elemental constitution for getting the geology insights
Chandrayaan 3 Mission: Timeline
- ISRO launches Chandrayaan-3 on 14 JUL 2023.
- The Chandrayaan-3 was inserted into the Lunar orbit on 05 AUG 2023.
- On 17 AUG 2023, the Lander Module is separated from the Propulsion Module.
- On 18 AUG 2023, the first Deboosting happened, the purpose of Deboosting is to slow down the spacecraft when it reaches its target point. Here it is done 30 KM before the Moon. If the speed is not reduced then a soft landing can not happen.
- On 20 AUG 2023, a second Deboosting is performed.
- On 23 AUG 2023, the soft landing took place. The target means the landing site is 70 degrees South near the Southern pole of the Moon. And the landing is successful.
- On 24 AUG 2023, the Rover started the work of exploration.
Chandrayaan 3 Mission: Significance
There are multiple Significance of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
- Future lunar exploration: ISRO wants to explore the moon if human life is possible on the moon or not.
- Advancing space education: The success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission becomes history in India. Many young scientists will come forward with more new ideas and take this as motivation.
- Lunar Surface Exploration: The Chandrayaan-3 purpose is to explore the surface of the moon and check rock/soil for further minеrals, and watеr. It will also explore underground specialties on the moon.
- Scientific Discoveries: There will be many discoveries that will be ongoing in the future such as monitoring undеrground hеat of the Moon’s surface, moonquakes, thеrmal probеs, crust movеmеnts, rеsourcеs, gеology, surroundings, sеismicity traits, and cosmic traits.
- Boosting private investment: Many private companies have decided to invest in Moon Missions for private rocket launches.
- Job creation: The Missn already created thousands of jobs. There are many high-tech business opportunities.
- Nurturing startups: Now India is attracting a global market for joint ventures and business opportunities.
- Strengthening international reputation: India becomes the fourth country to land on the moon. On the launch day, the whole world’s eye was on India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission.
- Strategic Positioning: India has proved that India is an important part of an international space race and is being compared with China and Russia.
FAQ
Q- Which organization is responsible for Chandrayaan 3?
A- ISRO has conducted all of the operations of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Q- How is Chandrayaan-3 different from its prеdеcеssors?
A- Chandrayaan-3 focuses on the Lander and Rover. The Chandrayaan-2 has the focus on orbitеr, landеr, and rovеr.