CURRENT AFFAIRS

  • Chandrayaan 3: India's Lunar Exploration Endeavor

Chandrayaan 3: India's Lunar Exploration Endeavor

Description

Description: Learn about Chandrayaan 3, India's lunar mission aimed at exploring the Moon's south pole with a lander and rover, its payloads, and the launch site. 

Chandrayaan 3 Mission

Chandrayaan 3 is an ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) mission with the primary objective of putting a lander and rover in the highlands near the south pole of the Moon.

The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are:

  1. To demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface
  2. To demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and
  3. To conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM) and a Rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for Inter planetary missions. The objectives of scientific payloads planned on Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module and Rover are provided below:

Sl. No

Lander Payloads

Objectives

1.

Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA), Langmuir probe (LP)

To measure the near surface plasma (ions and electrons) density and its changes with time


2.

Chandra’s Surface Thermo physical Experiment (ChaSTE)

To carry out the measurements of thermal properties of lunar surface near polar region.

3.

Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA)

To measure seismicity around the landing site and delineating the structure of the lunar crust and mantle.

4.

LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA)

It is a passive experiment to understand the dynamics of Moon system.

 

Sl. No

Rover Payloads

Objectives

1.

LASER Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS)

Qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis & To derive the chemical Composition and infer mineralogical composition to further our understanding of Lunar-surface.

2.

Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS)

To determine the elemental composition (Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca,Ti, Fe) of Lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site.

 

Sl. No

Propulsion Module Payload

Objectives

1.

Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE)

Future discoveries of smaller planets in reflected light would allow us to probe into variety of Exo-planets which would qualify for habitability (or for presence of life).

 

Why Chandrayaan 3 is landing on South Pole of Moon?

All the previous spacecraft have landed a few degrees latitude north or south of the lunar equator. But Chandrayaan-3 will be the world’s first mission to soft-land near the lunar south pole.

It is easier and safer to land near the equator. The terrain and temperature are more hospitable and conducive for a long and sustained operation of instruments. The surface here is even and smooth, very steep slopes are almost absent, and there are fewer hills or craters. Sunlight is present in abundance, at least on the side facing the earth, thus offering a regular supply of energy to solar-powered instruments.

The polar regions of the Moon, however, are a very different, and difficult, terrain. Many parts lie in a completely dark region where sunlight never reaches, and temperatures can go below 230 degrees Celsius. Lack of sunlight and extremely low temperatures create difficulty in the operation of instruments. In addition, there are large craters all over the place, ranging from a few centimetres in size to those extending to several thousands of kilometres.

Lunar south pole

Due to their rugged environment, the polar regions of the Moon have remained unexplored. But several Orbiter missions have provided evidence that these regions could be very interesting to explore. There are indications of the presence of ice molecules in substantial amounts in the deep craters in this region — India’s 2008 Chandrayaan-1 mission indicated the presence of water on the lunar surface with the help of its two instruments onboard.

In addition, the extremely cold temperatures here mean that anything trapped in the region would remain frozen in time, without undergoing much change. The rocks and soil in Moon’s north and south poles could therefore provide clues to the early Solar System.

 

The Satish Dhawan Space Center is the country’s only spaceport from where spacecraft and satellites are launched. 

There were two primary reasons for selecting Sriharikota as the launch site.

·     One, it is on the east coast which facilitates the launching of the rockets in an easterly direction.

·      Two, its proximity to the equator.

“By launching a rocket eastwards, one can take advantage of Earth’s rotation. For a launch site close to equator the magnitude of the velocity imparted due to Earth’s rotation is about 450 m/s, which can lead to substantial increase in the payload for a given launch vehicle. Geostationary satellites must necessarily be in the equatorial plane. So, for such satellites, closer the launch site is to the equator the better it is

There were other considerations also, such as it was a largely uninhabited area and closer to the sea. This helped ensure that the flight path of launch vehicles or rockets is entirely over the sea, so that impact of separated rocket hardware can take place on the high seas without any constraints.

 

 

 

IAS Helpdesk