| Introduction: What is Chandrayaan-3’s mission? Body: What is its significance and how does it contribute to ISRO’s larger goals and objectives? Conclusion: Way forward. |
Chandrayaan-3 is the second attempt of the ISRO is set to land the spacecraft on the surface of the moon. Earlier in 2019, due to problems that had emerged during the last stage of the descent, Chandrayaan-2’s lander and rover crashed on the moon’s surface. If Chandrayaan-3 makes a successful safe landing on the moon India will become only the fourth country – after the United States, Russia, and China – to do so.
Why this mission is significant for India’s space ambitions?
- SHAPE– Chandrayaan-3 is different from its predecessor as its propulsion module has a payload — SHAPE (Spectro- polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth) to study Earth from lunar orbit.
- Lander payloads: The lander module’s payloads include RAMBHA-LP, which will measure the near-surface plasma ions and electrons density and its variations, ChaSTE Chandra’s Surface Thermo Physical Experiment, which will measure the thermal characteristics of the lunar surface near-polar region, and ILSA (Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity), will measure seismicity in the area of the landing site and delineate the lunar crust’s structure.
- Rover payloads: The rover payload includes APXS – Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer – to derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of the lunar surface. Another payload Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) will determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site.
How does this mission contribute to ISRO’s larger goals and objectives?
- Open new ventures: The controlled and safe landing on the moon opens new vistas in space exploration and space-based science and research.
- Increases confidence: The success of Chandrayaan-3 will be crucial and help ISRO to deliver on its upcoming missions Gaganyaan (India’s first manned mission to space), Aditya L-1 (a mission to study the Sun), Shukrayaan (mission to Venus).
- Joint Missions: Chandrayaan-3 has the potential to reaffirm ISRO’s position as one of the front-ranking space-faring nations & also allow it to get actively involved in more collaborative missions with other space agencies. Eg, ISRO, and NASA are realizing a joint satellite mission called NISAR (NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) for earth science studies. As part of the Indo-French cooperation, ISRO and CNES have completed the feasibility study on realizing an earth observation satellite mission with a thermal infrared imager, named TRISHNA. ISRO and JAXA scientists are conducting a feasibility study to realize a joint satellite mission to explore the moon’s polar region (LunarPolar Exploration Mission (LUPEX), also as Chandrayaan-4)
Conclusion
The moon is the closest cosmic neighbor of Earth and can be used as a potential site for testing futuristic technologies for deep space missions. The success of the mission would further help “stimulate the advancement of technology, promote global alliances, and inspire a future generation of explorers and scientists”.
