Chandrayaan-3 Details: ,Prime Minister, Namaskar. We have achieved the feat of soft landing on the moon. Now India is on the moon. The country was overjoyed to hear this statement of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) chief S Somnath. Actually, the occasion was the soft landing of Chandrayaan-3, which created history by landing on the south pole of the moon exactly a year ago. With this, India joined the list of those elite countries of the world who have set foot on the moon. The special thing is that there are only 4 such countries. Anyway, India’s speed in space is going to increase even more now. Preparations are on for Gaganyaan by the end of this year and after that Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5.
National Space Day will be celebrated
The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 also gave the country the gift of National Space Day. On Friday, the country is going to witness this celebration for the first time. According to PIB, the program will be organized in the Plenary Hall of Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on the theme ‘Touching lives while touching the moon: India’s space story.’ The place where Chandrayaan-3 landed was named Shiva Shakti Point.
meet chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3 was called the follow-on mission of Chandrayaan-2. The then chairman of ISRO K Sivan was leading Chandrayaan-2, but due to some technical problems, India missed the achievement then. Chandrayaan-3 consisted of a lander (Vikram) and a rover (Pragyan). It was launched on 14 July 2023 (Chandrayaan-3 launch date) from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota with the help of LVM3.
The lander’s payload included ChaSTE i.e. Chandra Surveys Thermophysical Experiment, Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA), Langmuir Probe (LP). Whereas, the rover had Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS).
In simple terms, Chandrayaan-3 has indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM) and rover. Its purpose is to develop and demonstrate new technologies required for interplanetary missions.
Why was Chandrayaan-3 mission necessary?
Chandrayaan-3 mission was very important for three reasons. First, to demonstrate safety and soft landing on the surface of the moon, to show the rover moving on the moon and to conduct scientific experiments on the spot.
What did ‘Pragyan’ and ‘Vikram’ give to the country
The special thing is that Chandrayaan-3 was designed to spend just one day on the moon. Now it is worth noting that one day on the moon is equal to 14 days on Earth. Within just 1 week after landing, Chandrayaan-3 confirmed the presence of sulfur, aluminum (AI), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), titanium (Ti), manganese (Mn), oxygen (O) and silicon (Si) on the moon. ISRO also released a chart in this regard. On Friday itself, ISRO is going to share important information related to the findings of Chandrayaan-3.
Soft landing twice
After landing on the moon on 23 August 2023, photos and updates were being given continuously by ISRO. These updates also included a ‘hop experiment’, which Vikram was successful in completing. In fact, ISRO had said that when the lander was given the command to start the engine, it rose about 40 cm and landed 30-40 cm away. The space agency said that Vikram has ‘once again made a soft landing on the moon.’
The success of this experiment meant that in the future the spacecraft could be used to return samples to Earth or for manned missions.
Elite club of soft landing on the moon
Apart from India, there are only three countries which have achieved success in soft landing on the moon so far. These include Russia, America and China.
Russia: The name of the country that first performed the feat of landing on the moon is Russia. Russia’s Luna-2 landed on the surface of the moon on 12 September 1959. However, it was a hard landing and Russia was successful in soft landing through Luna-9 on 3 February 1966. After this, Russia also performed a soft landing in 1969.
America: In 1966, just a few months after Russia’s landing, America also made a soft landing with the help of Surveyor-1. With the help of Atlas-Centaur, it was launched from Cape Carnival in America on 30 May 1966.
China: China achieved the feat of soft landing on the moon with the help of Chang’e-4. Chang’e-4, launched on 8 December 2018 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, made a soft landing on 3 June 2019.
Chandrayaan-3 in deep sleep
Extreme care was taken in choosing the date of Chandrayaan-3’s landing so that it could be carried out at the beginning of the day on the moon. In just 1 day, Pragyan Rover covered a distance of 103 meters on the moon. In September last year, ISRO had said that the lander and rover were put to sleep as the sun set on the moon. The agency had said that they have been put in ‘sleep mode’ and both will sleep near each other after the solar power decreases.
However, ISRO had also expressed hope that they would wake up again after the next day begins on the moon. The space agency had then hoped that both would wake up again around September 22. Actually, the lander and rover need solar energy to charge the battery and work. The temperature on the moon at night ranges from minus 200 degrees Celsius to minus 250 degrees Celsius.
According to media reports, pictures of Vikram and Pragyan resting were also revealed. A report published by India Today on May 2, 2024 also shared pictures of Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover quoting independent researcher Chandra Tungaturthi.
why did chandrayaan-2 fail
Chandrayaan-2, launched on 22 July 2019, was not fully successful in its mission. On 6 September 2019, Vikram Lander crash landed. The special thing is that the agency lost contact with the lander just 400 meters before the landing site. It is said that the main reason for the crash landing of Vikram Lander was its turning at 410 degrees, which was earlier fixed at 55 degrees. ISRO officials said that the velocity of the lander was to come from 6 thousand km per hour to 0 km per hour in four stages, but the space agency lost contact just a few minutes before touchdown.
What is ISRO’s plan going forward?
According to PTI, the ISRO chief said on Tuesday that the space agency has completed the design for the next phase of lunar missions – Chandrayaan 4 and 5 – and is in the process of getting approval from the government in this regard. The Chandrayaan-4 mission includes bringing back rocks and soil from the Earth’s satellite after smoothly landing the equipment on the surface of the moon, launching a spacecraft from the moon, performing a space ‘docking’ experiment in lunar orbit and bringing back samples.
“We have several missions to go to the moon. Chandrayaan-3 mission has been completed. Now the design of Chandrayaan 4 and 5 has been prepared and we are seeking approval from the government,” Somnath told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by the All India Council for Technical Education and the Indian Space Association here. Earlier, ISRO officials had said that the targeted launch of Chandrayaan-4 mission is the year 2028.
Somnath also said the space agency plans to launch 70 satellites in the next five years, including a constellation of satellites for low earth orbit to meet the requirements of various ministries and departments of the government. These 70 satellites include four satellites for the ‘NavIC’ regional navigation system that will provide positioning, navigation information services, he said.
Also included are INSAT 4D weather satellite, Resourcesat series satellites, Cartosat satellites for remote sensing and high resolution imaging. Somnath said the space agency also plans to develop Oceansat series satellites and technology demonstration satellites one and two to demonstrate electric propulsion systems and ‘quantum key’ delivery technologies.
Somnath said the space agency also plans to launch a series of Earth-observation satellites in the next five years. The ISRO chief said the agency’s previously planned Venus mission has been shelved.
He said, “We are re-evaluating the mission.” Somnath said that the first unmanned mission of the Gaganyaan project is scheduled to be launched in December this year. He said, “All the systems will reach Sriharikota in the next one to one and a half months, where final testing and integration will be done.”
Before going to sleep, Pragyan Rover and Vikram Lander gave a big treasure, ISRO shared photos