INDIA’S MISSION TO THE MOON
Question
Write a report on India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission launched by ISRO from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhrapradesh, India. [Word-limit : 150 words] [2+8]
CHANDRAYAAN-3 : INDIA’S MISSION TO THE MOON
By Golam Mortuja
Sriharikota, 7 Sept, 2023 : In the Chandrayaan programme, a series of lunar-exploration missions developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] the third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 was successfully launched on 14th July, 2023 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It consists of a Lander Module [LM] named Vikram, Propulsion Module [PM] and a Lunar Rover [LR] named Pragyan, similar to those launched abroad Chandrayaan-2 in 2019.
On 5th August the Chandrayaan entered the lunar orbit and the Lander Module [LM] landed successfully near the lunar south pole on August 23, 2023 at 18:03 IST [12:33 UTC]. This made India only the fourth country after the former USSR, the U.S., and China to make a successful landing on the Moon, and the first to do so near the lunar south pole. The rover confirmed the presence of sulfur on the lunar surface near the south pole, a finding that scientists have deemed significant. Other elements such as aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon, and oxygen were also detected.
On 3rd September the lander hopped and repositioned itself 30–40 cm (12–16 in) from its landing site. After the completion of its mission objectives, it was hoped that the lander and rover would revive for extra tasks. But, unfortunately, on 22nd September 2023, the rover missed the wake-up call. On September 30, the second lunar night began and eliminated all hopes of revival.
