Chandrayaan 3 Launch - Date, Place, Recent Updates
26-08-2023
01:21 PM
What’s in today’s article?
- Why in news?
- What is Chandrayaan 3?
- What is Soft Landing?
- What happened to Chandrayaan 2?
- How will Chandrayaan-3 be different?
Why in news?
- The Indian Space Research Organisation launched its third lunar mission - Chandrayaan 3 on-board the heavylift LVM3-M4 rocket in Sriharikota on July 14.
- The Vikram lander of the mission is planned to soft land on the surface of the South Pole region of the Moon on August 23.
- A successful mission would see India enter an elite club of nations achieving such a feat. These nations are: the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.
What is Chandrayaan 3?
About Chandrayaan 3 Launch
- The Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third lunar mission.
- It consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM), and a rover.
- Its objective is to develop and demonstrate new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.
Modules of Chandrayaan 3 Mission
- The Chandrayaan-3 mission spacecraft will have three modules — orbiter, lander, and rover.
- The propulsion module is the one that will take the lander and the rover to the moon.
- The lander module contains the rover. After the touchdown, the lander will remain stationary at the landing site, while the rover will explore the moon.
Chandrayaan 3 Payloads
- The Chandrayaan-3 carries six payloads that would help ISRO understand the lunar soil and also get the blue planet’s photographs from the lunar orbit.
- Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) will measure the near-surface plasma density and its changes with time.
- Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) will measure seismicity around the landing site and delineate the structure of the lunar crust and mantle.
- The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) will determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the landing site.
- Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) will derive the chemical composition and infer the mineralogical composition of the moon’s surface.
- Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) will study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of the earth in the near-infrared wavelength range.
- This could be used in the search for life on exo-planets beyond the solar system.
- Lunar lander Vikram will click photos of the rover Pragyaan as it studies the seismic activity on the moon by dropping some instruments.
- Using laser beams, it would try to melt a piece of the lunar surface -- the regolith -- to study the gases emitted during the process.
ISRO’s Previous Moon Missions
- Chandrayaan-3 is largely a replica of its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, that was launched in July 2019 in the form of an orbiter and a lander (‘Vikram’) bearing a rover (‘Pragyan’).
- Chandrayaan-1 was launched by ISRO on October 22, 2008.
- The ISRO lost communication with Chandrayaan-1 on August 29, 2009, almost a year after it was launched.
What is Soft Landing?
About:
- A soft landing on the Moon's surface refers to a controlled and gentle touchdown of a spacecraft or lunar lander on the lunar terrain.
- During a soft landing, the spacecraft undergoes a series of manoeuvres and braking techniques to reduce its velocity and align itself with the landing site.
- This typically involves firing retro-rockets or thrusters to slow down the descent and make a controlled approach.
- The goal is to land the spacecraft gently without causing any significant damage.
Process of soft landing for Chandrayaan-3:
- Following the separation from the launch vehicle, the propulsion module along with the lander would proceed for an over a month-long journey towards reaching the orbit of the moon until it goes 100 km above the lunar surface.
- After reaching the desired altitude, the lander module would begin its descent for a soft landing on the moon’s south pole region.
<Image caption: Process of soft-landing>
Challenges to Soft-Landing
Image Caption: Challenges to Soft-Landing
What happened to Chandrayaan 2?
- During this mission, ISRO lost contact with the spacecraft’s lander Vikram.
- While the orbiter entered into orbit around the moon, the surface mission failed when the lander crashed instead of executing a slow descent.
- ISRO later identified a problem in the guidance software and unexpected dispersion in the propulsion system during certain phases of the descent.
How will Chandrayaan-3 be different?
- In Chandrayaan-3, the rocket will place the payload in an elliptical orbit around the earth, where a propulsion module will take over and pilot the lander to a circular orbit around the moon.
- To improve the chances of success at this stage, ISRO has strengthened the lander’s legs, lowered its minimum thrust, enhanced the availability of power, and upgraded the landing sequence.
Q1) What is a rover?
A rover is a robotic vehicle designed to explore the surface of a celestial body, such as a planet or a moon. Rovers are typically used in space exploration missions to gather scientific data, conduct experiments, and take images of the planetary surface. Rovers are designed to operate in harsh and challenging environments, such as those found on other planets. They are equipped with various instruments and tools to perform their tasks, including cameras, spectrometers, drills, and robotic arms. These instruments allow the rovers to analyze the terrain, study the composition of rocks and soil, and search for signs of past or present life.
Q2) What was Chandrayaan-1?
Chandrayaan-1 was the first lunar exploration mission conducted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India's space agency. Launched on October 22, 2008, Chandrayaan-1 aimed to explore the Moon's surface and study its geology, mineralogy, and topography. The spacecraft carried a suite of scientific instruments from India as well as other countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden. These instruments included a high-resolution camera for mapping the lunar surface, a terrain-mapping camera, a lunar laser ranging instrument, a radar instrument to study the Moon's polar regions, and a payload for studying the lunar exosphere.