With only hours left to take off, hopes are high on Friday’s launch of India’s third lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan 3, by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
New Delhi :The GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle, which will launch the Moon lander and rover into space, will lift off at 2.30 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
The countdown to the launch began at 14:35:17 IST on Thursday ahead of the launch on Friday.
Chandrayaan 3 will be ISRO’s follow-up effort after the Chandrayaan-2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was ultimately deemed to have failed in its mission objectives.
The ‘Launch Rehearsal’ simulating the entire launch preparation and procedure was already conducted by ISRO.
Chandrayaan 3 is equipped with a lander, a rover and a propulsion module. Its weight is about 3,900 kg.
ISRO’s third lunar exploration mission is equipped with eight payloads. Experiments to be carried by Chandrayaan 3 include the Vikram lander (named after space scientist Vikram Sarabhai) which will carry 4 instruments, the Pragyan (Sanskrit for wisdom) rover will carry two instruments and the propulsion module or orbiter will carry one experiment. Will go
Vikram Lander’s experiments include Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure the thermal properties of the surface, Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) to measure seismicity around the landing site, bound to the Moon to study gas Includes Radio Anatomy of the Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA). The passive laser retroreflector array provided by NASA for plasma atmosphere, and lunar studies.
While Pragyan (Sanskrit for wisdom) the rover will carry two instruments to study the elemental composition of the surface – Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) to determine elemental composition and laser induced breakdown of lunar soil and rocks around the landing site. will help determine.
Spectroscope (LIBS) that will perform qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis to estimate the chemical and mineralogical composition of the lunar surface. The propulsion module or orbiter will carry Spectropolarimetry of the Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) to study spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from lunar orbit. This helps scientists analyze the light reflected from exoplanets and determine whether they would be habitable.
The spacecraft’s journey from Earth to the Moon is estimated to take about a month and the landing is expected on August 23.
Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is roughly equivalent to 14 Earth days. One day on the Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth.
Former ISRO director K Sivan told ANI that the success of mission Chandrayaan-3 will boost the morale of programs like Gaganyaan, India’s first human space mission.
The development phase of Chandrayaan 3 began in January 2020 and the launch was planned sometime in 2021, but the progress of the mission was unexpectedly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The major discovery of the Chandrayaan-1 mission launched in 2008 was the detection of water (H2O) and hydroxyl (OH) on the lunar surface. The data mined by the rover also revealed their increased abundance towards the polar region.
The Vikram Sarabhai Space Center under ISRO had stated that the primary science objective of the mission was to prepare a three-dimensional atlas of both the near and far sides of the Moon and to perform chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface with high spatial resolution. ,
The Moon serves as a repository of Earth’s past and a successful lunar mission by India will help foster life on Earth, as well as enable it to explore the rest of the Solar System and beyond.
Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) director S Somnath had earlier said that if all goes well, the spacecraft will land on the moon on August 23.
He said that the date has been decided on the basis of sunrise on the moon, if it is delayed then the landing could happen next month.
UPDATE:-
As ISRO launches its third Moon mission, PM Modi tweets that “Chandrayaan-3 scripts new chapter.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission, had “scripted a new chapter in India’s space odyssey” only minutes after it was safely launched into orbit from Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota. The mission, he claimed, “soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian.”
“This incredible accomplishment is a credit to our scientists’ unwavering commitment. I applaud their creativity and energy,” PM Modi tweeted.
Source – IT