Today, India’s ambitious lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, has successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, an island in southern India.
The spacecraft, named Chandrayaan-3, meaning “moon craft” in Sanskrit, embarked on a journey that will last slightly over a month before landing on the Moon’s surface later in August.
The launch was met with applause and cheers at the mission control centre, with thousands of Indians celebrating this significant milestone in the country’s space exploration history.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission includes an orbiter, a lander, and a rover. The six-wheeled lander and rover module is equipped with payloads that will provide valuable data on the properties of lunar soil and rocks, including their chemical and elemental compositions.
This mission is a follow-up to the previous attempt in 2019, which unfortunately failed due to a software glitch during the final descent of the lander.
Chandrayaan-3: A Journey of Resilience and Innovation
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is the third lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
It consists of a lander and the Pragyan rover, similar to Chandrayaan-2, but does not include an orbiter. Instead, its propulsion module behaves like a communication relay satellite, carrying the lander and rover configuration until the spacecraft reaches a 100 km lunar orbit.
The previous mission, Chandrayaan-2, was intended to land a robotic spacecraft near the Moon’s little-explored south pole. However, it lost touch with its lander, which crashed while making its final descent to deploy a rover to search for signs of water.
Despite the setback, the ISRO remained undeterred, learning from the experience and using it to improve the design and functionality of Chandrayaan-3.
What to Expect from Chandrayaan-3
Upon successful landing, Chandrayaan-3 will make India the fourth country – after the United States, the Soviet Union, and China – to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.
The lander and rover are expected to land near the lunar south pole region on 23 August 2023.
The rover, designed to survive one lunar day (14 Earth days), is equipped with scientific instruments, including cameras, spectrometers, and a drill. It is expected to make several important scientific discoveries, including the composition of the lunar surface, the presence of water ice in the lunar soil, the history of lunar impacts, and the evolution of the Moon’s atmosphere.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a testament to India’s growing technological capabilities and promises to make significant contributions to our understanding of the Moon. As we await the completion of this mission, the world watches with bated breath, ready to celebrate another giant leap for humanity in exploring our celestial neighbour.
TLDR:
- India’s lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, has successfully launched and is expected to land on the Moon in late August.
- The task includes a lander and a rover designed to provide valuable data on the properties of lunar soil and rocks.
- This mission is a follow-up to the previous attempt in 2019, which failed due to a software glitch.
- India will become the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon after a successful landing.
- The rover is equipped with scientific instruments and is expected to make several important scientific discoveries.
