Aiming for the Lunar South: All You Need to Know About Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 made India the first country to land a probe on the lunar south pole by successfully soft-landing Vikram lander at 6:04 pm today.

The Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, launched Chandrayaan 3 on the medium-lift Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3) rocket on 14th July 2023 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh at 2:35 pm.

Chandrayaan 3 lands successfully and will be active for 2 weeks, exploring the lunar south pole, a region consisting of frozen ice - an essential source of water, fuel and oxygen for future Moon missions and the prospect of a permanent Moon colony. During its time on the Moon, Chandrayaan 3 will be conducting several experiments on the moon’s surface to gain a detailed understanding.

History of the Chandrayaan Missions

Chandrayaan 3 is India’s second attempt at landing a rover on the Moon's South Pole. The first attempt, Chandrayaan 2, failed in 2019 when the lander crashed on the lunar surface due to a glitch in the landing guidance software. Chandrayaan 1 was India's first moon mission, consisting of a Moon Impact Probe, which was intentionally crashed on the lunar surface and is known for finding evidence of water on the Moon.

Key Components of the Chandrayaan 3

Chandrayaan 3 has three main components - the propulsion module, the lander and the rover. Like Chandrayaan 2, the lander is called Vikram, and the rover is named Pragyan.

Propulsion Module

The propulsion module is a box-like structure that will carry the lander and the rover, acting as an orbiter, till the spacecraft reaches a lunar orbit of 100 kilometres. It will study Earth's spectral and polarimetric measurements using the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload after entering lunar orbit.

Lander

The lander, Vikram, made a soft landing on the Moon. The lander is a box-shaped structure with four legs and four landing thrusters of 800 newtons each. It carries the rover Pragyan and is equipped with the following instruments to perform on-site scientific analysis.

• Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) Instruments - for detecting moonquakes.
• Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) - For measuring temperature and thermal conductivity of the surface.
• Langmuir Probe - for understanding the variation and density of superheated gas or plasma in the Moon’s environment.
• Laser Retroreflector Array - for measuring distances using laser ranging.

Rover

The rover has a six-wheeled design and weighs 26 kilograms. It will roam the lunar surface and conduct various scientific discoveries, including determining the following:

• Presence of water-based ice in the lunar soil
• Composition of the lunar surface
• Evolution of the Moon’s Atmosphere
• History of lunar impacts

It will use the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) to accomplish most of its objectives.

Main Goals of Chandrayaan 3

The Chandrayaan 3 mission has three major objectives, as mentioned by ISRO. They are:

• Landing the lander softly and safely on the Moon,
• Demonstrating and observing the rover’s ability to loiter on the Moon’s rough terrain.
• Conducting experiments and observations of the materials on the lunar surface to better understand the Moon's composition.
• You can check out our YouTube channel for more details.

Mission Progress Until Now

Chandrayaan 3 entered the lunar orbit on 5th August 2023, and the lander successfully separated from the Propulsion Module on 17th August. The lander had de-boosted twice and began its power descent on 23rd August at 5:45 pm. ISRO has released a soft-landing message on its website that contains links to all the places you can watch the live Chandrayaan 3 Moon landing.

Conclusion

By landing successfully, India became the fourth country to successfully land on the Moon, after the former USSR, the United States of America and China. You can watch the fantastic landing of Chandrayaan 3 on ISRO’s website and YouTube channel, which started at 5:20 pm today.

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