Introduction
The Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission, the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) prominent launch of the year that aims to achieve a gentle landing on the Moon’s surface, is scheduled to launch on Friday.
If the ambitious project is successful, India will become the only country to have finished the problematic feat after the USA, the former Soviet Union, and China.
The ambitious Chandrayaan-2 project, which failed to make the required gentle landing in September 2019, was followed by the mission for four years. It was intended to demonstrate various talents, such as getting into orbit around the Moon, doing an easy touchdown over its south pole, and then sending a rover to explore the surface.
Rs. 600 crore. That represents the enormous expense ISRO will bear when it launches its Chandrayaan-3 project on July 12.
The soon-to-launch Chandrayaan-3 mission is proving to be the most challenging one for India’s national space agency thus far; even though this is not the most significant expenditure ISRO has yet suffered for one of its missions because the expense of the Chandrayaan-2 project was significantly more significant at Rs 960 crore.
Why is Chandrayaan-3 ISRO’s most challenging mission to date?
Chandrayaan-3’s primary goal has been to soft-land an object upon the Moon’s surface and conduct research. Any celestial body, including the Moon, is highly challenging and complex to soft-land a spacecraft.
Even after entering a lunar orbit, Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander caused it to crash. It landed harshly after veering off course within two kilometers above the lunar surface.
Launch and landing dates for Chandrayaan-3
Isro anticipates launching the mission at the Satish Dhawan Space Center on July 12, 2023. The spacecraft will enter Earth orbit using India’s giant rocket, LVM3 (which used to be referred to as Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 3). The propulsion module will be burned to direct the spacecraft toward the Moon after a few rotations around the Earth. After that, the trip toward the Moon will last a few weeks. On August 23, a lunar landing will occur on the Moon’s dark side.
According to the report, Isro has partnered with Vienna’s non-governmental Moon Village Association (MVA) to host international outreach events with Chandrayaan-3.
A Quick Overview of Chandrayaan 1
On October 22, 2008, Chandrayaan 1 was sent into orbit from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Center. It utilized a rocket called the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) that was domestically created. The Indian meteorological satellite Kalpansat served as the inspiration for Chandrayaan 1.
On November 8, 2008, the rocket successfully entered lunar orbit; six days later, it launched its Lunar Impact Probe. The Moon’s Impact Probe crashed close to the Shackleton crater on the same day. The Impacting Probe crashed in a way that allowed for an analysis of the lunar soil’s subsurface for signs of ice.
Chandrayaan 1 captured multiple high-resolution photographs of the geography of the Moon while hovering only 100 km above its surface. Additionally, it carried out mineralogical mapping and searched the surface for radioactive substances.
The discovery of many water molecules in the soil of the Moon was one of the mission’s greatest successes. The $56 million project gave us vital data about the Moon’s surface.
Success or failure for Chandrayaan 1?
Scientists hypothesize that frozen water close to the Moon’s south pole might be utilized for several reasons, including fuel for rockets, drinking water, the production of oxygen, and the growth of plants.
When Chandrayaan 1 was hovering 200 kilometers above the Moon’s surface in August 2009, it lost touch with the ground station. After some time, ISRO deemed the mission to be completed.
The probe had a lifespan of two years. Still, several technical problems, including a star sensor failure and insufficient thermal shielding, caused it to live only three hundred twenty-one days. Chandrayaan 2 had a more straightforward time getting off the ground because of Chandrayaan 1’s accomplishment.
The Chandrayaan Mission of ISRO
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On October 22, 2008, Chandrayaan-1 launched, |
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On July 22, 2019, Chandrayaan-2 launched |
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Launch Of The Chandrayaan-3 Mission On July 14, 2023 |
Name of Lander and Rover for Chandrayaan-3
For Chandrayaan-3, the Indian Space Research Organisation intends to keep the identity of the Chandrayaan-2 lander and rover. Vikram, which translates to “Valor” in Sanskrit, is the name of the moon lander part of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. It is outfitted with four instruments that, among other things, monitor thermal conductivity and detect moonquakes at the landing site.
With the aid of its onboard cameras, the rover Pragyan (Sanskrit for “wisdom”) will roll off Vikram after touchdown and explore the area immediately around it. While conducting science experiments, it is supposed to always stay inside the lander’s range of view.
Pragyan will undertake on-site tests with the help of two onboard instruments to collect crucial technical information about the Moon’s composition close to the landing spot.
Conclusion
The spacecraft Chandrayaan -3 is expected to touch down on the Moon on August 23 after traveling to the Moon for roughly a month. It will run one lunar day after landing, akin to fourteen consecutive days on Earth. Fourteen days on Earth are the same as one day on the Moon.
According to sources from PTI, the Chandrayaan-3 mission has significance because, unlike its unsuccessful predecessor, the Propulsion Module includes a payload dubbed SHAPE — Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth for studying Earth from its lunar position.
Information By – Aayushi Bhanu
