India declares August 23 as National Space Day in honor of Chandrayaan-3's moon landing

Tags: Science and Technology

On 26 August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the designation of 23 August as National Space Day in honor of India's Chandrayaan-3 moon landing.

An Overview of the News

• The specific spot where Chandrayaan-3 landed on the Moon will be named 'Shivshakti', and the spot where Chandrayaan-2 landed will be called 'Tiranga Point'.

• PM Modi made this announcement during his visit to the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network Mission Control Complex in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Chandrayaan-3 Achievements:

• On 23 August 2023, Chandrayaan-3 achieved a historic feat by becoming the first mission to land on the South Pole of the Moon.

• Mission goals included a safe lunar landing, rover maneuverability, and the performance of scientific experiments on-site.

• India has now joined the ranks of the United States, Russia, and China in successfully landing on the Moon.

Objectives of Chandrayaan-3:

• Chandrayaan-3 is set to operate on the lunar surface for one lunar day (equivalent to 14 Earth days).

• The Pragyan rover will detect, conduct experiments, and transmit the data to the lander within a radius of 500 meters around the landing site.

• The Vikram lander will relay data and images to the orbiter, which will then transmit them back to Earth.

• Both the lander and the rover carry advanced scientific instruments for a variety of lunar investigations including terrain analysis, mineralogical composition, surface chemistry, atmospheric studies, and water/resource exploration.

Additional Payloads and Studies:

• The propulsion module that propelled the lander and rover into a 100 km lunar orbit contains the SHAPE payload.

• SHAPE (Spectro-Polarimetry of the Habitable Planet Earth) is designed to study the spectral and polarimetric characteristics of Earth from the orbit of the Moon.

Chandrayaan-1

• Chandrayaan-1 was the first Indian lunar probe launched by ISRO.

• It was part of the Chandrayaan program and was launched in October 2008 and the mission lasted till August 2009.

• Chandrayaan-1 consisted of a Lunar Orbiter and an Impactor.

• The Lunar Orbiter conducted scientific research and collected data about the Moon.

• The objective of the mission was to make a detailed map of the Moon's surface and study its composition.

• Chandrayaan-1 had advanced instruments to test the presence of water ice and minerals.

• The spacecraft carried both Indian and international scientific payloads.

• Chandrayaan-1 made important discoveries including evidence of water molecules on the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-2:

• India's second lunar exploration mission developed by ISRO.

• Components: Lunar Orbiter, Vikram Lander, and Pragyan Rover.

• Scientific Objective: Study the composition of the lunar surface and find lunar water.

• Launch: July 22, 2019, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

• Landing Site: Intended for the south polar region of the Moon at a latitude of 70°S.

• Planned Landing Date: September 6, 2019

• Landing Result: The lander crashed due to a software glitch.

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO):

• It was established on 15 August 1969.

• It is the national space agency of India. It launched its space rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

• Headquarters - Bengaluru

• Chairman - S Somnath