India has created history. Chandrayaan-3 (Chandrayaan-3 Successful Landing) has successfully landed on the Moon’s South Pole. With Chandrayaan-3 (Chandrayaan-3 Landing on Lunar South Pole), India has become the first country to land on the Moon’s South Pole.
While India is the fourth country in the world to do soft landing in any part of the moon. Before India, only America, Soviet Union (now Russia) and China have been able to do soft landing on the moon. After reaching the moon, Chandrayaan-3 sent a message – I have reached my destination.
The lander of Chandrayaan-3 landed at 6:40 pm on Wednesday evening. Two hours and 26 minutes later, the rover also came out of the lander. Rover is a six-wheeled robot. It will run on the surface of the moon. Its wheels have the impression of the Ashoka Pillar and the logo of ISRO. As the rover moves on the surface of the moon, the impression of the Ashoka Pillar and the logo of ISRO will go on being printed.
Main point
- The project director of Chandrayaan-3 mission is P Veeramuthuvel, he took over as the project director of Chandrayaan-3 in the year 2019.
- Prior to this, he has served as Deputy Director in the Space Infrastructure Program Office of ISRO. P Veeramuthuvel had earlier played an important role in the Chandrayaan-2 mission.
- He hails from Villupuram, Tamil Nadu and has studied at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M).
- ISRO has named Vikram Lander after the scientist Vikram Sarabhai, who is called the father of the Indian space program. The weight of Vikram Lander is 1752 kg.
- Vikram Lander is the only one to do soft landing on the lunar surface. Soft landing is called that in which any lander lands on the lunar surface without any damage.
- Pragyan: Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched by ISRO on 14 July 2023 from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
- ISRO has named the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander as Vikram and rover as Pragyan which is a scientific payload.
- Pragyan is a robotic vehicle whose translation in Sanskrit is knowledge.
- The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up to the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission. Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram Lander crashed on the surface of the Moon.
- Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover will be engaged in various types of exploration on the lunar surface for 14 days. With the help of solar panels, these devices will remain active on the moon after being charged.
- Along with this, ISRO Chief S Somnath also says that even after 14 days the possibility of Chandrayaan working cannot be ruled out.
Objective of the chandrayaan-3 mission
- To demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface
- To demonstrate rover roving on the moon and
- To conduct in-situ (on-site) scientific experiments.
- It also aims to develop and demonstrate new technologies required for interplanetary missions.
- The success of the emission will make Chandrayaan-3, the world’s first mission to soft-land near the lunar South Pole and India, fourth country to soft-land on the moon.
Payloads carried by chandrayaaan-3
- Lander payloads: Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure the thermal conductivity and temperature; Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) for measuring the seismicity around the landing site; Langmuir Probe (LP) to estimate the plasma density and its variations. A passive Laser Retroreflector Array from NASA is accommodated for lunar laser ranging studies.
- Rover payloads: Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving the elemental composition in the vicinity of landing site.
- Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM) and a Rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for Inter planetary missions.
- The Lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the Rover which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.
- The Lander and the Rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface. The main function of PM is to carry the LM from launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100 km circular polar orbit and separate the LM from PM.
To achieve the mission objectives, several advanced technologies are present in Lander such as,
- Altimeters: Laser & RF based Altimeters
- Velocimeters: Laser Doppler Velocimeter & Lander Horizontal Velocity Camera
- Inertial Measurement: Laser Gyro based Inertial referencing and Accelerometer package
- Propulsion System: 800N Throttleable Liquid Engines, 58N attitude thrusters & Throttleable Engine Control Electronics
- Navigation, Guidance & Control (NGC): Powered Descent Trajectory design and associate software elements
- Hazard Detection and Avoidance: Lander Hazard Detection & Avoidance Camera and Processing Algorithm
COMPARISION OF CHANDRAYAAN-1, 2 AND 3
| Mission | Chandrayaan-1 | Chandrayaan-2 | Chandrayaan-3 |
| Launch Year | 2008 | 2019 | Scheduled for 2023 |
| Objectives | Study lunar surface | Study the lunar surface and land rover on the lunar South Pole | Demonstrate landing capabilities for Lunar Polar Exploration Mission |
| Components | Orbiter, Moon Impact Probe | Orbiter, Lander (Vikram), Rover (Pragyan) | Propulsion module, Lander, Rover |
| Findings | Confirmed presence of lunar water, lunar caves, tectonic activity, faults, and fractures | Building on the evidence of water molecules shown by Chandrayaan-1 | – |
| Communication | Communication issues after 312 days of operation | Lander crash-landed, rover unable to operate | – |
| Launch Vehicle | PSLV | GSLV-Mk 3 | LVM3 |
| Landing Site | – | Lunar South Pole | Lunar South Pole |
| Major Partners | – | – | Japan (for Lunar Polar Exploration Mission) |