India is poised to make history as the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has launched its third lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3. The mission, which is a follow-on to Chandrayaan-2, will attempt to soft-land on the lunar surface and deploy a rover. If successful, India will become one of the elite nations to have landed on the Moon. Only three countries have been able to achieve this milestone - the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China.
LVM3 M4/Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
— ISRO (@isro) July 14, 2023
LVM3 M4 vehicle🚀 successfully launched Chandrayaan-3🛰️ into orbit.
1. Chandrayaan-3 is the next mission after Chandrayaan-2, which aims to land safely and explore the moon's surface. It consists of a lander and rover that will be launched into space by a rocket called LVM3 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. Chadrayaan-2, which was launched in 2019, consisted of an orbiter, a lander, and the Pragyan rover. Unfortunately, because of a software glitch, the craft lost all communications just minutes before it was supposed to land; it deviated from its intended trajectory and crashed. Though it was not a complete failure, the orbiter is still functional and provides valuable data to the organisation.
2. The GSLV Mark 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle, also known as the Bahubali rocket, will support the moon lander Vikram. The GSLV, now known as Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LM-3), is 43.5 metres tall. The spacecraft is scheduled to touch down on the moon on August 23 after a voyage that will last more than 40 days.
3. India has conducted successful lunar missions before. In 2008, ISRO launched Chadrayaan-1, India’s first lunar mission, which was a major success and whose findings shocked the whole world. It was during this mission that the presence of water molecules was discovered on the surface of the moon.
4. Chandrayaan-3 launched at 2:35 PM IST on July 14, 2023, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft was launched by the Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3), and carries a lander and a rover. After landing on the surface in August, the rover will then deploy and explore the lunar surface. The craft is set to land on the South Pole of the Moon, where Chandrayaan-1 discovered the presence of water molecules.
5. The Chandrayaan-3 has undergone modifications by ISRO to make it more reliable than its predecessor. The craft consists of the lander Vikram, which is named after Vikram Sarabhai, the rover Pragyan, and a propulsion module. The Vikram Lander weighs 1,752 kilograms, around 280 kilograms heavier than its previous version. The increased weight is mainly due to extra precautions taken by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). To ensure a successful landing this time, Vikram carries more fuel to stay on its intended path to the moon's surface. The craft has gone through vigorous tests and has plenty of safety measures to ensure that the mission is successful this time.
6. The craft collectively weighs 3,900 kg. The propulsion module weighs 2,148 kg, and the lander and the rover weigh 1,752 kg. This total weight is close to the maximum capacity of the GSLV Mk III, which is India's strongest rocket. Once in space, the orbiter will carry Vikram towards the moon. It will orbit the moon and gradually adjust its path to enter a circular polar orbit 100 kilometres above the moon's surface.
7. Once Chandrayaan-3 safely lands on the moon, the Pragyan rover will be deployed to explore. The rover will be released from Vikram using a ramp. This six-wheeled rover is powered by solar energy and carries two spectrometers to study the composition of the Moon’s surface. It will move around the landing area for about 14 Earth days, which is roughly equivalent to one lunar day of sunlight.
8. Vikram Lander is equipped with four scientific instruments as well. The first instrument is a seismometer designed to detect moonquakes, while the second one studies how heat moves through the lunar surface. The third aims to understand the plasma environment around the moon, and the fourth is a retroreflector to help understand the gravitational interaction between the Moon and the planet.
9. ISRO’s Chairman, Sreedhara P. Somanath, says that instead of a success-based design, they opted for a failure-based design for Chandrayaan-3. It is carefully designed to ensure a successful landing even in the event of certain components failing. Various scenarios, such as sensor failure, engine failure, algorithm failure, and calculation failure, were considered, and measures were developed to address each of them.
10. According to NASA, the USSR, the US, China, and Israel are the only nations in the world to have attempted to land on the Moon. The USSR has had 12 unsuccessful attempts; however, it has succeeded twice. Out of eight landing missions, the US has succeeded in five of them. China has attempted two landing missions so far, and both of them were successful. Israel’s first and only attempt failed. India’s previous two lunar missions are counted as orbiters and not landing missions.
Related | GK Quiz on Chandrayaan-3
The launch of Chandrayaan-3 is a major milestone not only for India, but the whole world. It is also expected to boost India's space program and its global standing in the field of space exploration.
You can watch the launch of Chandrayaan-3 live here.
Comments
All Comments (0)
Join the conversation