Chandrayaan 3: Countdown begins today for India's third moon mission
TIRUPATI: The countdown for India's most-ambitious moon mission, Chandrayaan-3 being undertaken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) begins on Thursday. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft will be launched by an LVM3-M4 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR) in Tirupati district around 2:35pm on Friday.
After traveling approximately 3.84 lakh km, it is anticipated to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface on either August 23 or 24. The timing is dependent on when the Sun rises over the Moon.
This mission is a follow-up to Chandrayaan-2 launched in 2019 but failed to safely land and position itself on the moon due to a technical glitch. This time, Isro scientists have taken special steps to ensure a successful soft landing. They would use a new navigation system and a more powerful propulsion module.
India's third lunar exploration mission will take off as part of the fourth operational mission (M4) of the LVM3, ISRO's most- powerful and heaviest launch vehicle. The LVM3 will be responsible for placing the integrated module in an Elliptic Parking Orbit (EPO) measuring 170 x 36,500 km.
The LVM3 has previously demonstrated its capabilities in handling complex missions, including satellite deployments and interplanetary missions.
According to Isro, the Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of an indigenous propulsion module weighing 2,145.01kg, a lander module weighing 1,749.86kg and a 26kg rover.
The objective is to develop and demonstrate new technologies required for interplanetary missions. The propulsion module will transport the lander and rover from the injection orbit after it reaches a lunar orbit of 100 km above the moon surface.
Additionally, it carries a spectro-polarimetry of habitable planetary earth (SHAPE) payload, enabling the study of spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.
Approximately 16 minutes after lift-off, the propulsion module would get separated from the rocket and orbit the Earth 5-6 times in an elliptical cycle, with the closest point at 170km and the farthest point at 36,500km, gradually moving towards the lunar orbit.
The propulsion module, along with the lander, will then embark on a month-long journey to reach a lunar orbit 100km above the lunar surface. The primary function of the propulsion module is to transport the lander module from the launch vehicle injection orbit until the lander separation.
Upon reaching the designated position, the lander module will initiate its descent for a soft landing in the moon's south-pole region. This is anticipated to occur on August 23 or 24.
Following the soft landing, the Rover, with a mission life of one lunar day (14 Earth days), would disembark from the lander module and conduct studies of the lunar surface using payloads such as the APXS (to derive chemical and mineralogical composition to enhance understanding of the lunar surface) and the laser-induced breakdown spectroscope (to determine elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the landing site).
