Here is all you need to know about Chandrayaan-3 Mission
Hyderabad: The Department of Science has stated that India plans to execute the Chandrayaan-3 mission in August 2022. Chandrayaan-3 is the successor to the Chandrayaan-2 mission and it will likely attempt another soft-landing on the lunar surface. Read on more about the ISRO’s new mission… Chandrayaan-3 Mission The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up of Chandrayaan-2 […]
Hyderabad: The Department of Science has stated that India plans to execute the Chandrayaan-3 mission in August 2022.
Chandrayaan-3 is the successor to the Chandrayaan-2 mission and it will likely attempt another soft-landing on the lunar surface. Read on more about the ISRO’s new mission…
Chandrayaan-3 Mission
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up of Chandrayaan-2 of July 2019, which aimed to land a rover on the lunar South Pole. The subsequent failure of the Vikram lander led to the pursuit of another mission to demonstrate the landing capabilities needed for the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission proposed in partnership with Japan for 2024.
It will have an orbiter and a landing module. However, this orbiter won’t be loaded with scientific instruments like the Chandrayaan-2. Its job will only be confined to carry the lander to the moon, oversee the landing from its orbit and communicate between the lander and the earth station.”
As per ISRO, the total cost of Chandrayaan-3 mission will be over Rs 600 crores. In comparison, the total cost of the Chandrayaan-2 mission was Rs 960 crores
What was the Chandrayaan-2 Mission ?
Chandrayaan-2 consisted of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover, all equipped with scientific instruments to study the moon. The Orbiter would watch the moon from a 100-km orbit, while the Lander and Rover modules were to be separated to make a soft landing on the moon’s surface.
ISRO had named the Lander module as Vikram, after Vikram Sarabhai, the pioneer of India’s space programme, and the Rover module as Pragyaan, meaning wisdom. It was sent aboard the country’s most powerful geosynchronous launch vehicle, the GSLV-Mk 3.
However, lander Vikram, instead of a controlled landing, ended up crash-landing and prevented rover Pragyaan from successfully travelling on the surface of the moon.
What is GSLV-Mk 3?
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III was developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is a three-stage vehicle, designed to launch communication satellites into geostationary orbit.
It has a mass of 640 tonnes that can accommodate up to 8,000 kg payload to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 4000 kg payload to GTO (Geo-Synchronous Transfer Orbit).
Second Spaceport in Tamil Nadu
The Tamil Nadu government has started acquiring 2,300 acres of land in Thoothukudi district for ISRO’s second launch port. Currently satellites are launched from the Sriharikota launch centre in Andhra Pradesh.
Thoothukudi offers a locational advantage to launch towards India’s South. When ready, the new port will handle mainly the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) that is under development. SSLVs are meant to put a payload of up to 500 kg in space.
Why Tamil Nadu
The space agency ISRO preferred its second spaceport at Thoothukudi, located on the east coast and near the equator for the following reasons:
1. Speed Boost To Rockets: The Earth’s rotation provides a speed boost to rockets launched in the eastward direction, and headed for an equatorial orbit around the planet.
2. Save Lives: If there is a failure during the launch, then the debris from an explosion would fall directly into the Bay of Bengal instead of land, which would have less impact on damaging property or taking lives.
Chandrayaan-3’s payload will be similar to Chandrayaan-2. It will also have a lander-rover like its previous iteration. The mission will target a soft-landing near Lunar South Pole
GSLV Mark-III had to be operationalised for launching Chandrayaan-2 that’s already in place will be used by the lander-rover to communicate with Earth.
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