India's third moon mission Chandrayaan-3 successfully launched

Tags: Science and Technology

On 14 July 2023, India successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 with LVM3-M4 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.

An Overview of the news:

• With the success of ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 mission, India will be the fourth country after Russia (Soviet Union), America and China to have soft-landed on the Moon.
• ISRO launched Chandrayaan-1 in 2008. Chandrayaan-2 was launched in 2019. Chandrayaan-3 was launched from Sriharikota on 14 July 2023.

Propulsion Module, Lander and Rover of Chandrayaan-3:

• In Chandrayaan-2 where there were Orbiter, Lander and Rover. Whereas, Chandrayaan-3 has a propulsion module, lander and rover.
• The Lander + Rover of Chandrayaan-3 weighs about 250 kg more than the Lander + Rover of Chandrayaan-2.

How long will the missions last:

• While Chandrayaan-2 had a mission life of 7 years (estimated), Chandrayaan-3's propulsion module is designed to work for 3 to 6 months.
• Chandrayaan-3 will move towards the moon more quickly than Chandrayaan-2.
• 4 thrusters have been installed in the lander of Chandrayaan-3. After a journey of about 40 days, Chandrayaan-3 will reach the surface of the moon. Chandrayaan-2 took 42 days to reach the moon.

Mission Cost:

• The cost of launching this mission is Rs 615 crore. While it has cost Rs 500 crore to launch it.

Mission Objective:

• The Chandrayaan-3 mission aims to gather more information about the lunar surface. For this, four types of scientific instruments have been installed on the lander. Which mainly:
• 
  
  • Earthquakes on the moon
  • Surface thermal properties,
  • Variation in plasma near the surface,
  • Attempt to measure the exact distance between the Moon and the Earth,
  • Will study the chemical and mineralogical composition of the lunar surface.

Mission Landing:

• The on-board computer decides how the landing will take place. The computer automatically takes decisions by estimating the location, height, velocity etc. according to its sensors.

Achievement of Chandrayaan-2:

• Data from the orbiter attached to Chandrayaan-2 detected the presence of chromium, manganese and sodium for the first time through remote sensing. It will also provide more information about the magmatic evolution of the Moon.