SRIHARIKOTA: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) heaviest rocket, Launch Vehicle Mark-III-M4 (LVM3-M4), on Friday successfully placed Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft in an elliptic parking orbit around the Earth. The mission aims to soft-land near the lunar south pole at 5.47 pm IST on August 23, if every things goes according to plan.
This is the ISRO’s most ambitious and complex mission till date and comes four years after Chandrayaan-2’s lander crash-landed on the Moon’s surface. That failure provided invaluable insights and formed the basis for Chandrayaan-3’s design, which underwent significant corrections.
“Congratulations, India,” Chairman, ISRO, Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, said after the successful launch and Earth-orbit insertion of the propulsion module. The Earth orbit insertion is among the first few phases of the total mission. The mission will be deemed a success after it completes all 10 phases, which are broadly divided into Earth Centric Phase, Lunar Transfer Phase and Moon Centric Phase. The first trans lunar insertion of the spacecraft will happen on August 1 after four Earth-bound manoeuvres.
‘We hope for good data to understand moon’s origins’
The propulsion and lunar module separation will happen on August 17. The landing is currently planned on 5.47 pm IST on August 23. While Chandrayaan-1 helped confirm the presence of water on the Moon in 2008, Chandrayaan-2 in 2019 placed an orbiter around the Moon and is still functional. Chandrayaan-3 is set to become the world’s first mission to explore the uncharted territories of the Moon’s South Pole.
Somanath said many of the scientific instruments and probes planned after the Vikram lander makes a touchdown and rolls out Pragyan rover from its womb are unique and have never been attempted before. The lunar soft-landing is planned at a site which is 69.36 degree South and 32.34 degrees East near the Moon’s south pole, where there will be ample sunlight to charge the solar panels.
Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days. ISRO is focusing on two areas. One, study the thermo, physical and chemical characterstics of regolith, which is the Moon’s surface. Second, understand the near surface atmosphere.
“We want to do this as close to South Pole as possible where no one ventured. We will be putting a seismic instrument on the moon’s surface piercing the probe. We hope to get good data for us to analyse and understand the origins of the moon etc.” Project Director P Veeramuthuvel said all parameters of the propulsion module and the lander were normal.
Human-rated booster nozzles
ISRO tweaked the launch vehicle to test its ability to carry human passengers for the Gaganyaan project. The nozzles of the solid boosters, S200 and the Vikas L110 engines are human-rated in this launch, said mission director Mohan Kumar
Cost factor
Chandrayaan-1 (2008) Rs 386 crore
Chandrayaan-2 (2019):Rs 978 crore
Chandrayaan-3 (2023):Rs 615 crore
Mission is nation’s pride: TN Scientist
Chandrayaan-3 project director P Veeramuthuvel on Friday said he is very proud but the job is only half-done. “The litmus test would be to soft-land on Moon’s surface. All the manoeuvres to be undertaken in the next 40 days are equally critical. This mission is the pride of the nation, not just Tamil Nadu,” said the scientist who hails from Villupuram