Isro's Chandrayaan 3 landed in Moon's orbit

Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar spacecraft, landed gently on the moon’s surface at 6:04 p.m. (IST) yesterday. This is India’s second endeavor to reach the moon. In 2019, a malfunction caused the Chandrayaan-2 Vikram spacecraft to fall onto the moon’s surface.

After analyzing data from the crash landing, experts at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) improved the technology used by the Chandrayaan-3.

With the successful soft-landing of the Chandrayaan-3 probe yesterday, India officially became the fourth country in history to reach the moon, following the United States, China, and the Soviet Union. Russia’s intriguing lunar landing attempt took off on August 20, 2023. But the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon’s surface after losing control.

Table of Contents

What can you possibly hope for?

Propulsion and Lander/Rover modules comprise most of the LVM3 spacecraft. The principal function of the propulsion module is to transport the lander rover’s cargo to the moon.

Lander, Vikram, and the rover, Pragyan, are both known as Chandrayaan-2. When the lander is at an appropriate distance of the moon’s surface, it will disconnect from the propulsion module and gently descend to the surface.

The rover is equipped with numerous tools and will crawl around the moon’s surface to conduct investigations. It will crawl about the lunar surface, collecting data with its various instruments. Some of these include examining moonquakes, analyzing the soil, and researching subsurface heat conduction.

Timeline

The ISRO launch station on Sriharikota, an island off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, successfully launched the 43.5-meter-tall LVM3 rocket on July 14, 2023. The first orbit-raising maneuver went smoothly on July 15, 2023.

Between the 16th and 31st of July, three orbit-raising maneuvers were effectively completed. Successful insertion of Chandrayaan-3 into a translunar orbit was confirmed on August 5, 2023.

Later, on August 9th, ISRO made adjustments to Chandrayaan-3’s trajectory to improve its lunar orbit from 174 to 1,437 kilometers in altitude. On August 14, 2023, India’s lunar mission came closer to the surface of the moon. The Vikram lander and Pragyan rover were disconnected from their propulsion system on August 17, 2023. On August 18, 2023, it was determined that the de-boost operation had been successful.

The objectives are

There are three mission objectives. First, to demonstrate the potential of a soft lunar landing. The second objective is proving the lunar mobility of the rover Vikram. ISRO’s third objective is to conduct scientific investigations in situ.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission was unsuccessful because the lunar lander Vikram lost contact with Earth before it could soft-land on the moon’s surface. A malfunctioning valve decreased airflow to the engines, causing this. The ISRO, however, has put more effort into landing this time through focusing on thrust control, rotation speed, and trajectory modifications.

Also Read: https://blogsyear.com/chandrayaan-2-vikram-contact-lost-chandrayaan-2-status-unknown/

In Summary

“Welcome buddy!”, Chandrayaan-3 contacted the moon’s Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Indian Space Research Organisation said the lander and orbiter achieved ‘two-way communication’ that will make it easier to reach the lander.

In 2008, Nair led the space agency when Chandrayaan-1 was launched. He claimed a successful landing will mark Isro’s next phase of planetary exploration.