CHANDRAYAN -3

1. Where will Chandrayaan-3 land?

The Chandrayaan-3 mission, while still on the near side, has managed
to land Vikram the closest ever to the lunar South Pole. The
coordinates of Chandrayaan-3 at 69.36 S and 32.34 E make it about
600 km away from the South Pole.
2. chandrayaan-3 landing date and time?
• 3. Chandrayaan 3 launch date time and place?
India’s lunar mission Chandrayaan 3 was launched
on July 14, at 2:35 P.M. from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in
Sriharikota announced by the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO).The date was later confirmed by
Secretary of Space department and ISRO Chairman S.
Somnath at a press briefing on the sidelines of the G-20
Fourth Economy Leaders Meeting in Bengluru.
 FACTS
• 1. Collaborative Efforts: Chandrayaan-3 is a joint effort
between ISRO and the Russian Space Agency
ROSCOSMOS. This collaboration demonstrates
international cooperation in the field of space
exploration and leverages the expertise of both
nations.
• 2. Focus on Landing: Unlike Chandrayaan-2, which
consisted of an orbiter, Lander (Vikram), and Rover
(Pragyan), Chandrayaan-3 will be solely focused on the
lander and rover components. This mission’s primary
goal is to achieve a soft landing on the Moon’s surface
which it did on 23th August 2023.
• 3. Rover Pragyan Returns: Chandrayaan-3’s rover, named
Pragyan, is a refined version of the rover that was part of
Chandrayaan-2 mission. It’s equipped with scientific
instruments to analyse the lunar soil and gather valuable
data about the Moon’s composition.
• 4. Lander Adaption: The lander component of Chandrayaan-
3 is adapted from the Chandrayaan-2 lander module. This
adaption allows ISRO to capitalise on existing technology
while addressing the challenges faced during the landing
attempt of Chandrayaan-2.
• 5. Technological Improvements: Chandrayaan-3 incorporates
lessons learned from Chandrayaan-2’s landing setback. ISRO
has worked on refining the landing mechanisms and
ensuring a smooth descent to the lunar surface.
• 6. Aimed for Precision: The Chandrayaan-3 mission targeted
a high-precision landing in the unexplored region near the
Moon’s south pole. This area is of particular interest due to
the presence of water ice in permanently shadowed craters.
Till now no country has ever attempted a soft landing in the
unexplored south pole. The success of soft landing opens
new chapters for India.
• 7. Advancing Lunar Research: Chandrayaan-3’s mission
objectives include further exploration of the Moon’s geology,
understanding its surface composition, and analysing the
potential presence of water ice. The data gathered will
contribute to our knowledge of lunar evolution and provide
insights into the Moon’s history.
• 8. Heavyweight: The Vikram lander weighs 1749.86 kg,
including the rover’s 26 kg, equipped with its four landing
legs and four landing thrusters. Accordingly, the landing
module on the Moon weighs roughly 2800 kg. This made the
landing for ISRO considerably more difficult, but it was
accomplished.
• 9. Looking for space fuel: The Pragyan rover will be
searching for Helium-3 or He-3, which might be utilised as
fuel for extremely cool nuclear fusion reactions, in addition
to looking for water ice on the Moon. The same fusion
process that drives the Sun and other stars can be used to
provide a nearly endless supply of clean energy on Earth
without producing any radioactive waste.
• 10. India’s lander is less likely to fail: The soft
landing on the south pole of the Moon is a
challenging task. However, ISO chief S.
Somnath revealed a clever strategy to make
sure Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander sticks to
the landing. Even if its sensors or engines
decide to act up, they’ve got a plan to handle
it like a pro.
 CONCICLUSION
• “The entire design of the lander has been made in a manner that
makes sure that it would be able to handle failures”, The ISRO chief
said.
• “If everything fails, if all the sensors fail, nothing works, still Vikram
will make a landing. That’s how it has been designed – provided
that the propulsion system works well”, Somnath said.
• With the aim of researching and showcasing new technology
necessary for interplanetary missions, Chandrayaan-3 is made up of
an indigenous Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM), and
Rover. The Lander did the soft landing at a chosen location on the
moon and released the Rover, which will
• conduct in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface while it is
moving. There are scientific payloads on the Lander and the
Rover that will conduct lunar surface tests. The main job of PM
is to transport the LM from injection into the launch vehicle to
the final 100 km circular polar orbit and then to release the LM
from PM. The lander and rover configuration are propelled by
the propulsion module up to a 100 kilometre lunar orbit. To
examine the spectral and Polarimetric data of Earth from the
lunar orbit, the propulsion module is equipped with the
Spectro-Polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE)
payload.
• To achieve the mission objectives, several advanced
technologies are present in Lander such as, Altimeters: Laser
& RF based Altimeters
• Velocimeters: Laser Doppler Velocimeter & Lander Horizontal
Velocity Camera
• Inertial Measurement: Laser Gyro based Inertial referencing
and Accelerometer package
• Propulsion System: 800N Throttleable Liquid Engines, 58N
attitude thrusters & Throttleable Engine Control Electronics
• Navigation, Guidance & Control (NGC): Powered Descent
Trajectory design and associate software elements
• Hazard Detection and Avoidance: Lander Hazard Detection &
Avoidance Camera and Processing Algorithm
• Landing Leg Mechanism.
•
Chandrayaan-3 signifies India’s determination to excel in
space exploration and contribute to our understanding of
celestial bodies. The world witnessed the successful soft
landing of the rover Pragyan on 23th August 2023 at 6:04
PM. With its collaborative efforts, technological
advancements, and focus on precision, Chandrayaan-3
opened a new chapter in India’s space odyssey, further
establishing the nation’s prowess in the realm of space
research.
• Each member of Jharkhand Rai University feels proud and
congratulates the whole team of ISRO for the successful soft
landing of Chandrayaan-3.
• Chandrayaan-3 teaches us that failures are not setbacks but
stepping stones to success