Astro News
CHANDRAYAAN 3
A mission to the south pole of the moon
HISTORY OF THE ISRO
Established on 15th August, 1969, ISRO was originally the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) set up by the government of India in 1962. Once it became ISRO, it attained an expanded role to harness space technology. Its headquarters are in Bengaluru.
Even before its establishment, India had been dreaming of launching rockets. On November 21, 1963, it launched the US Nike Apache from Thumba. This specific rocket had been taken to the launch site on a bullock cart.
ISRO’s Aryabhata was its first satellite and was launched by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1975 whilst Rohini was the first satellite to be placed in orbit on July 18, 1980. ISRO has further launched several space systems, including the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) for telecommunications, meteorology, television and disaster warning.
The ISRO has also launched the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), which is India’s first interplanetary spacecraft. MOM was launched on November 5, 2013 using its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island. It arrived at Mars on September 24, 2014, and the spacecraft entered a highly elliptical orbit
US Nike Apache
Aryabhata
INSAT
MOM
THE JOURNEY TO CHANDRAYAAN-3
CHANDRAYAAN-1
Chandrayaan-1 was the first Indian Lunar Probe under the Chandrayaan Programme, making India the fourth national space agency to land on the moon. Launched by the ISRO on 22 October of 2008, the mission included an orbiter and a MIP (Moon Impact Probe). It was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Through this mission, India's space programme was able to master the development of technology to explore the moon and reached a level of superiority amongst the space industry. On 14 November of that year, the Moon Impact Probe separated from the Chandrayaan orbiter and landed near the south pole of the moon (on Jawahar Point) and went on to later discover presence of water molecules on lunar soil.
CHANDRAYAAN-2
This mooncraft consisted of a lunar orbiter, Vikram lander and Pragyan rover. The objective of this mission was to map and study the variations in lunar surface composition along with the abundance and location of water on the moon. On 22 July 2019, it too was launched at the Satish Dhawan Space Center. The lander and rover were scheduled toland on the near side of the moon, in the South polar region. However, the lander crashed when it deviated from its intended trajectory while attempting to land. This crash was caused by a software glitch according to a failure analysis report submitted to the ISRO.
CHANDRAYAAN-3
This mission also consists of the Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover as it was the second attempt to launch a spacecraft with the aim to land within the South Polar Region. It was launched on 14 July 2023 and touched down on 23 August. This officially made India the first country to land near the lunar south pole. This region has remained a mystery for decades, especially since studies have shown that it contains large amounts of ice. Furthermore, the terrain is mountainous and has unpredictable lighting conditions where temperatures can drop to cause the rover and lander to shut down. The ice in this region gives an insight into lunar, Earth and Solar System history. It can, moreover, be used as a source of drinking water, hydrogen for fuel and a source of oxygen for future manned missions or outposts.
With the budget of a mere 6.15 billion Indian Rupees or $75 million, they crossed they sky's limit. In order to save their costs, Chandrayaan-3 took the longer route to the moon which hence, had cheaper propulsion systems. Taking more than 40 days to reach the moon, they had to loop through widening orbits to use the earth's gravitational force as a slingshot. India's sourcing of equipment and instruments were locally made. Therefore, making the mission cost-effective.
Engineers of the Chandrayaan-3 mission have, reportedly, still not received their salaries for over a year, proving their commitment and devotion to the project. Despite the shortage of funds, India successfully completed the project by putting their objectives at priority. Beating first world countries at their own game and race, this rising third world country is now an inspiration for all of South Asia.
ISRO chairman, S. Somanath is a crucial figure in this project to the moon. In his role, he assumed role of director at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, places where the rocket technology was engineered.
P. Veeramuthuvel, who is project director of Chandrayaan-3, was also a pivotal figure in Chandrayaan's second mission as well.
Director of VSSC, S. Unnikrishnan Nair, was responsible for developing the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. His team oversaw critical aspects of this vital mission.
UPDATES FROM CHANDRAYAAN-3
Ions and electron swirls
A probe aboard the Vikram lander took measurements of the density and temperature of the moon’s ionosphere. There is a sparse mix of ions and electrons in the electrically charged plasma surrounding the moon’s surface, near the south pole. The density of electrons in this ionosphere varies on a lunar day-to-day basis. Hence, proving a substantial affect on possible lunar communication and navigation systems, if we were to set up base camps on the surface. However, due to sparsity, this disruption is predicted to be minimal.
Moonquakes
Temperature variations
Fitted with 10 temperature sensors, the lander dug a mere 8 centimetres deep to discover a 60 °C drop in temperature, relative to the lunar surface. Paul Hayne, a planetary scientist, explains that this decline in temperature exists during lunar daytime as a result of lack of heat conduction beneath the surface of the moon. Furthermore, lunar temperatures at 10 °C warmer than the reports of 2009, made by NASA’s Lunar Renaissance Orbiter at the time. Thus, making water ice to be unstable.
Vikram Lander’s seismograph recorded a minute seismic event which “decayed to background in about 4 seconds”, said planetary geochemist, Marc Norman. Scientist’s at ISRO believe it to be a small moonquake or an impact of a tiny meteorite which are expected on the moon.
Discovered elements
The presence of sulfur, oxygen, aluminium, silicon, calcium and iron on lunar surface was confirmed by the rover. However, since sulfur is a volatile element, it is not expected. Hence, making its discovery extremely significant as is a key element of hot molten rock, which crystallised to form the moon’s surface. Yet, sulfur may have been a result of asteroid collisions. Thus, sulfur concentrations, once measured, would help scientists come to a more decisive conclusion.