India’s Chandrayaan 3 soft lands in the lunar south pole region of the Moon.
Chandrayaan-3
A simulation of Chandrayaan 3 approaching the lunar surface. ISRO
August 23rd: Here it is; the ISRO has released the first surface image from Chandrayaan 3:
India has officially joined the nations that have successfully soft-landed on the Moon. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 mission accomplished this feat today, marking a significant milestone for the country’s space sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to express his congratulations to ISRO for the remarkable success of the lunar mission. The landing occurred on the lunar nearside, between Manzinus C and Simpelius N craters, at 12:34 Universal Time (UT) on Wednesday, August 23rd. With this achievement, India became the fourth nation to have accomplished a soft landing on the Moon, following the United States, China, and the late Soviet Union.
India has achieved the distinction of being the first nation to successfully land in the lunar south pole region. It is noteworthy that the crewed Apollo missions landed on the lunar nearside at lower latitudes, and even the historic farside landing of China’s Chang’e 4 craft in 2019 only reached a space of approximately 45°S. In contrast, Chandrayaan-3 has successfully landed at a latitude of 69°S. The exploration of the polar region of the Moon has emerged as a new frontier in lunar exploration, as certain permanently shadowed craters at the poles are known to contain water ice.
The Launch of Chandrayaan 3. ISRO
An annotated image of the Moon, captured by Chandrayaan 3 from lunar orbit. ISRO
The primary objective of Chandrayaan-3 is to demonstrate the soft-landing capabilities of the Vikram lander, deploy the 26-kg (57-lb) Pragyan rover, and collect and analyze lunar surface material. To achieve this, the lander and rover are equipped with a suite of sophisticated instruments, including spectrometers and a Langmuir probe to measure plasma density at the lunar surface. The solar-powered mission is anticipated to span 14 days, from local sunrise until sunset. Although there were discussions regarding postponing the landing until August 27th, such a delay would have resulted in the loss of valuable daylight time on the lunar surface and potentially necessitated a landing at an alternate site.
The path for Chandrayaan 3 to the Moon. ISRO
INDIA AT THE MOON
Chandrayaan-3 has been developed by incorporating the valuable insights gained from the landing mishap of Chandrayaan 2. The lunar orbiter, which was originally intended to serve as an upper-stage propulsion unit, has been significantly simplified in comparison to its predecessor, the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter, which remains operational. The spacecraft is equipped with a single experiment, namely the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) experiment, which has been designed to investigate Earth as if it were an exoplanet located nearby. The Vikram lander, which was identified as a primary cause of the Chandrayaan 2 landing failure, has been equipped with four throttle-able engines instead of five fixed-thrust engines.
The Vikram landed in the clean room. ISRO
The nascent lunar space race is currently gaining momentum in 2023. This upcoming weekend, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) in conjunction with the joint JAXA/NASA XRISM X-ray observatory on August 26th. Later this year, Astrobotic Technology and Intuitive Machines will both embark on their respective endeavors to become the first private entities to successfully land on the Moon. Furthermore, NASA’s VIPER rover is scheduled to land on the Moon next year, alongside the launch of the Artemis 2 lunar flyby mission, which will mark the first crewed mission to cis-lunar space since 1972.
The Moon is poised to become a bustling hub shortly. The Vikram lander’s high-latitude landing site will offer a vantage point for observing the Earth’s blue marble suspended low over the lunar terrain in the days to come. In the event of clear skies, it is recommended to observe the waxing crescent Moon tonight, which will be hosting a novel robotic emissary from our planet.
