Wednesday August 23 is a Red-Letter day for India. With the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 India became the fourth nation to land on the moon and the first to land on its South Pole. India’s unassuming rocket scientist and Chairman Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), S Somnath said that the success of this mission is the result of the work done by thousands of scientists, engineers, ISRO staff and industries and support teams across ISRO and other institutions. ISRO had launched Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft through its “Launch Vehicle Mark-III” on July 14. The launch happened from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in South India’s Sriharikota island. As millions of Indians rejoiced over the success of this mission the wait now is for Pragyan to survey the local environment for one lunar day (around 14 Earth days) and carry out a variety of scientific experiments. These include using X-ray spectrometry to identify the elemental composition of the Moon’s surface.
Chandrayaan-3 comes 14 years after India launched its first moon landing mission in 2008, which found evidence of water molecules in the lunar atmosphere. Although the lander-rover of Chandrayaan-2 crashed during touchdown, its orbiter is still in orbit and continuing its study of the moon. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter was instrumental in locating the landing spot for the Chandrayaan-3 lander and will continue to assist in sending signals to Earth for communication with the lander. NASA administrator Bill Nelson also congratulated ISRO on the successful moon landing of Chandrayaan-3 through his post on Twitter stating, “We’re glad to be your partner on this mission!”
Chandrayaan means the moon vehicle in Sanskrit and Chandrayaan-3 aims to demonstrate safe landing and roving on the moon’s surface and conduct on-site scientific experiments. The spacecraft, developed with a budget of less than $75 million, comprises a propulsion module, lander and a rover that collectively carry seven scientific instruments. This time ISRO has paid great attention to overcome the problems faced by the previous lander. The Chandrayaan-3 mission includes improved sensors, software and propulsion systems. ISRO also carried out a number of simulations and additional testing to ensure a higher degree of ruggedness in the lander to achieve a successful landing. The lander will conduct experiments on seismic vibrations, near-surface plasma, lunar temperature, thermal conductivity, elemental composition, and spectral signatures of earth. Unlike the lander, the rover of the Chandrayaan-3 is identical to that of the Chandrayaan-2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking after the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 said India’s approach of “one earth, one family, one future,” resonates across the globe because India’s moon mission is based on the same human-centric approach. Modi said this success belongs to all of humanity, and it will help moon missions by other countries in the future.
