Chandrayaan-3: Record set, but a thriller ahead

The added feeling of accomplishment is from achieving this in the first attempt after its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, failed to do so on September 7, 2019.

Lander Imager Camera of ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 captures a portion of its landing site on the surface of the Moon after its successful descent, in Bengaluru, Aug 23, 2023. (Photo | PTI)

A few seconds under 6.04 pm on August 23, 2023, Indian space scientists achieved a record-setting feat by softlanding the first-ever spacecraft near the Moon’s South Pole – a region so far uncharted but eyed by several nations for exploration. India has become the pioneer in the in-situ exploration of the lunar south pole, with Chandrayaan- 3’s lander making a smooth touchdown in the coveted lunar region.

The added feeling of accomplishment is from achieving this in the first attempt after its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, failed to do so on September 7, 2019. To modify the composite Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft through innovation and rectify the problems encountered earlier, which had led to the lander’s crash – that too through a raging Covid-19 pandemic in the interim – calls for immense appreciation for the gritty scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), led by its chairman S Somanath.

Now, there is much promise ahead. Lander Vikram and rover Pragyaan have 14 days to conduct their studies and relay data to understand the region better. This is in keeping with the objectives of the Rs 615-crore mission, the foremost being the demonstration of a safe soft landing near the lunar south pole. Having accomplished that on Wednesday evening, the focus now shifts to the first-ever on-site studies by a rover/ lander in that region. The rover is already out of the lander, exploring and studying the site. Using the five active payloads among them, the lander and the rover will, for the first time, determine the elemental chemistry of rocks and soils around the landing site, derive the elemental composition in the vicinity of the site, measure the thermal conductivity, temperature and seismicity in the region, and estimate plasma density and its variations.

The findings will be of immense value to space agencies looking to ultimately set up permanent human bases at the Moon’s south pole. The back–to-the-Moon push is spearheaded by NASA with its Artemis programme through an international collaboration, eyeing to take humans to the Moon in 2025-26, and ISRO is likely to collaborate. The Artemis programme may be much bigger than the 1969-1972 Apollo crewed missions to the Moon.

Being the first ever on-site mission at the lunar South Pole, Chandrayaan-3 has caused much global excitement and anticipation among space scientists on what it may discover over the next two weeks. The thrill lies ahead.