ISRO invites researchers to study Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover data

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has invited proposals from the scientific community to analyse Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover data. The datasets, released publicly in August 2024, include findings on lunar seismicity, thermo-physical properties, plasma environment, and elemental composition.

Bengaluru: The ISRO on Monday issued an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) inviting the scientific community to participate in the analysis and utilisation of data from experiments of Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover, launched on July 14, 2023, to carry out in-situ studies on the Moon.

The Bengaluru-based space agency seeks proposals from faculty and researchers from recognised academia, research institutions, universities, colleges, and government organisations of India.

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The deadline for submission of proposals is October 21. According to a press release issued by ISRO, the Chandrayaan-3 mission objectives were accomplished, and the payloads collected data about seismicity, thermo-physical properties, plasma environment, and elemental composition of the landing region for one lunar day.

“The payload teams analysed the datasets and published them in reputed peer-reviewed journals. The science data have been peer-reviewed by domain experts and released to the public on August 23, 2024,” said the release.

Now, ISRO seeks innovative research proposals that understand the capability of the payload with respect to the intended science. ISRO said the data from Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter have been extensively used by Indian researchers to understand the lunar surface and sub-surface, composition (elemental and mineralogy), and exosphere.

“These studies have provided enhanced, thoughtful views regarding lunar evolutionary processes. ISRO expanded the science community by releasing data utilisation AO, and currently 30 projects are running in various academic institutions,” it added.

Chandrayaan-3 Lander and Rover payloads’ data are made open to the public, and scientific proposals are solicited for scientific analysis. This can be accessed at the PRADAN portal of Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) at pradan.issdc.gov.in.