India’s ambitious lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, is set to launch today from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 2.35 pm. The successful completion of this mission will position India as the fourth nation to achieve a lunar landing.
The moon lander, Vikram, will be launched aboard the GSLV Mark 3 heavy lift launch vehicle, also known as the Bahubali rocket. The spacecraft’s journey to the moon will span over 40 days, with an expected touchdown on the lunar surface on August 23.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been meticulously preparing for this mission, especially after the last moon mission in July 2019 faced complications. ISRO Chief S Somnath shared that the main issue with the Chandrayaan-2 mission was the inability of the craft to handle off-nominal conditions for a safe landing.
In a pioneering move, Chandrayaan-3 is set to land in the South Pole of the moon, a region known to contain water molecules. This discovery was made during India’s first moon mission in 2008 and took the world by surprise.Upon a successful landing, Vikram will release the rover Pragyan, which will explore the moon’s surface for a lunar day, equivalent to 14 earth days. The rover will conduct various scientific experiments, including the analysis of lunar soil and logging moon quakes.
ISRO has made significant improvements to the mission based on learnings from the previous moon mission. The number of engines on the lander has been reduced from five to four, and the software has been updated. The new mission is designed to land successfully even in the event of certain element failures, including sensor failure, engine failure, algorithm failure, and calculation failure.
Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon, was launched in October 2008 and remained operational until August 2009. In 2019, the lander of Chandrayaan-2 deviated from the planned trajectory and suffered a hard landing. Despite this, the orbiter continues to circle the moon and send data back to Earth.
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