Chandrayaan-3
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Article ImagesChandrayaan-3 (transl. Moon-craft, pronunciationⓘ)[7] is the third and most recent Indian lunar exploration mission under the Chandrayaan programme by ISRO, and the first to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.[7] It consists of a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan similar to those of the Chandrayaan-2. Its propulsion module acts like an orbiter. The propulsion module carried the lander and rover configuration until the spacecraft attained a 153 × 163 km lunar orbit.[8][9]
Chandrayaan-3 Integrated Module in cleanroom before encapsulation | |
Mission type | |
---|---|
Operator | ISRO |
COSPAR ID | 2023-098A |
SATCAT no. | 57320 |
Website | www |
Mission duration | 1 year, 2 months and 15 days (elapsed)
|
Spacecraft properties | |
Bus | Chandrayaan |
Manufacturer | ISRO |
Launch mass | 3900 kg[1] |
Payload mass | Propulsion Module: 2148.00 kg Lander Module (Vikram): 1752 kg including Rover (Pragyan) of 26 kg Total: 3900.00 kg |
Power | Propulsion Module: 758 W Lander Module: 738W, WS with Bias Rover: 50W |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 14 July 2023 14:35:17 IST, (9:05:17 UTC)[2][3] |
Rocket | LVM3 M4 |
Launch site | Satish Dhawan Space Centre |
Contractor | ISRO |
Moon orbiter | |
Spacecraft component | Lander |
Orbital insertion | 5 August 2023 |
Orbital parameters | |
Pericynthion altitude | 153 km (95 mi) |
Apocynthion altitude | 163 km (101 mi) |
Moon lander | |
Spacecraft component | Rover |
Landing date | 23 August 2023 18:02 IST, (12:32 UTC)[4] |
Landing site | 69°22′03″S 32°20′53″E / 69.367621°S 32.348126°E [5] |
(between Manzinus C and Simpelius N craters)[6] | |
Following Chandrayaan-2, where a last-minute glitch in the landing guidance software led to the lander crashing after entering lunar orbit, another lunar mission was proposed.[10]
The launch of Chandrayaan-3 took place on 14 July 2023, at 2:35 pm IST.[11] The lander and rover landed near the lunar south pole region on 23 August 2023. The powered descent occurred on 23 August 2023, around 5:45 pm IST and touchdown occurred on the same day around 6:02 pm IST, making India the first nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the lunar south pole region, and the fourth country to soft-land on the Moon.[12][4]
Background
ISRO launched Chandrayaan-2 on board a Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) launch vehicle consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover.[13] The lander was scheduled to touchdown on the lunar surface in September 2019 to deploy the Pragyan rover. The lander ultimately crashed when it deviated from its intended trajectory while attempting to land.[14][15]
The European Space Tracking (ESTRACK) operated by European Space Agency (ESA) will support the mission according to a contract. Under the new cross-support arrangement, ESA tracking support could be provided for upcoming ISRO missions such as those of India’s first human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan and the Aditya-L1 solar research mission. In return, future ESA missions will receive similar support from ISRO’s own tracking stations.[16]
Objectives
ISRO has set the following mission objectives for the Chandrayaan-3 mission:
- Getting a lander to land safely and softly on the surface of the Moon.
- Observing and demonstrating the rover’s loitering capabilities on the Moon.
- In-site observation and conducting experiments on the materials available on the lunar surface to better understand composition of the Moon.[17]
Spacecraft
Design
Chandrayaan-3 comprises three main components:
Propulsion module: The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit. It is a box-like structure with one large solar panel mounted on one side and a large cylinder on top (the Intermodular Adapter Cone) that acts as a mounting structure for the lander.[9][8]
Lander: The lander is responsible for the soft landing on the Moon. It is also box-shaped, with four landing legs and four landing thrusters of 800 newtons each. It will be carrying the rover and various scientific instruments to perform in-site analysis.
The lander for Chandrayaan-3 will have only four throttle-able engines with thrust valve slew rate changing capabilities, unlike Vikram on Chandrayaan-2 which had five 800 Newtons engines with a fifth one being centrally mounted with a fixed thrust. One of the main reasons of Chandrayaan-2 failure, i.e., attitude increase during camera coasting phase was removed by allowing the lander to control attitude and thrust in all phases of descent. Attitude correction range is increased from 10°/s in Chandrayaan-2 to 25°/s in Chandrayaan-3. Additionally, the Chandrayaan-3 lander will be equipped with a Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) to allow measuring attitude in 3 directions.[18][19] The impact legs have been made stronger compared to Chandrayaan-2 and instrumentation redundancy has been increased. It will target a more precise 4 km (2.5 mi) by 4 km (2.5 mi) landing region based on images previously provided by OHRC on Chandrayaan-2. ISRO improved the structural rigidity, increased polling in instruments, increased data frequency and transmission and added other multiple software and contingency systems, as the lander is designed to withstand failed landing attempt via multiple complicated software simulations.[20][19]
Rover:
- Six-wheeled design
- Mass of 26 kilograms (57 pounds)
- Range of 500 metres (1,600 ft)
- Dimensions : 917 millimetres (3.009 ft) x 750 millimetres (2.46 ft) x 397 millimetres (1.302 ft)
The Chandrayaan-3 rover is expected to make a number of important scientific discoveries, including:
- The composition of the lunar surface
- The presence of water ice in the lunar soil
- The history of lunar impacts
- The evolution of the Moon’s atmosphere
-
Integrated module
-
Propulsion module
-
Lander
-
Rover
Payloads
Lander
- Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) will measure the thermal conductivity and temperature of the lunar surface.
- Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) will measure the seismicity around the landing site.
- Langmuir Probe (LP) will estimate the plasma density and its variations.[21]
Rover
- Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) will derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition of the lunar surface.
- Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) will determine the elemental composition (Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Fe) of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site.[21]
Propulsion module
- Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) to study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range (1-1.7 μm).[9][8]
-
Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) payload on the lander
-
Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) payload on the lander
-
Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) payload on the rover
-
Langmuir Probe (RAMBHA-LP) payload on the lander
-
Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload on the propulsion module
Mission profile
Around the Earth – Orbit raising phase
Chandrayaan-3's Path ·
Earth ·
Moon
Launch
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on 14 July 2023, at 2:35 pm IST as scheduled, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India. The spacecraft entered lunar orbit on 5 August 2023.[22] It is anticipated that the Chandrayaan-3 mission will achieve a soft landing on the lunar South Pole region on 23 August.[23]
Choosing the month of July for the launch of Chandrayaan 3 was a special move because of a calculation made by ISRO regarding the closeness of Earth and Moon.[24][dubious – discuss]
On August 5, the Indian Space Research Organisation achieved a Lunar-Orbit Insertion (LOI), successfully placing the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into orbit around the Moon. The LOI operation was carried out from the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) located in Bengaluru.[25][26]
After a series of Lunar Bound Maneuvers, on August 17, the Vikram lander separated from the propulsion module, to begin its last phase of mission to land on the lunar surface.[27]
Orbit raising and station keeping
The satellite was launched aboard the LVM3-M4 rocket in the afternoon of 14 July 2023, at 2:35 pm IST to a EPO perigee of 170 km (106 mi) and an apogee of 36,500 km (22,680 mi). This was followed by a series of orbit raising operations (using an on-board LAM and chemical thrusters) that placed the satellite in the Trans-lunar injection orbit.
# | Date/ Time (UTC) |
LAM burn time | Height achieved | Orbital period | Outcome | References | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apogee/Apolune | Perigee/Perilune | ||||||
Earth bound maneuvers | |||||||
1 | 15 July 2023 | — | 41,762 km (25,950 mi) | 173 km (107 mi) | — | Success | [28][29] |
2 | 17 July 2023 | — | 41,603 km (25,851 mi) | 226 km (140 mi) | — | Success | [28][30] |
3 | 18 July 2023 | — | 51,400 km (31,900 mi) | 228 km (142 mi) | — | Success | [31] |
4 | 20 July 2023 | — | 71,351 km (44,335 mi) | 233 km (145 mi) | — | Success | [28][32] |
5 | 25 July 2023 | — | 127,603 km (79,289 mi) | 236 km (147 mi) | — | Success | [33] |
Trans lunar injection | |||||||
1 | 31 July 2023 | — | 369,328 km (229,490 mi) | 288 km (179 mi) | — | Success | [34] |
Lunar bound maneuvers | |||||||
1 | 5 August 2023 | 1,835 s (30.58 min) | 18,074 km (11,231 mi) | 164 km (102 mi) | Approx. 21 h (1,300 min) | Success | [35] |
2 | 6 August 2023 | — | 4,313 km (2,680 mi) | 170 km (110 mi) | — | Success | [36] |
3 | 9 August 2023 | — | 1,437 km (893 mi) | 174 km (108 mi) | — | Success | [37] |
4 | 14 August 2023 | — | 177 km (110 mi) | 150 km (93 mi) | — | Success | [38] |
5 | 16 August 2023 | — | 163 km (101 mi) | 153 km (95 mi) | — | Success | [39] |
Lander Module separation | |||||||
1 | 17 August 2023 | — | 163 km (101 mi) | 153 km (95 mi) | — | Success | [40] |
Lander deorbit maneuvers | |||||||
1 | 18 August 2023 | — | 157 km (98 mi) | 113 km (70 mi) | — | Success | [41] |
2 | 19 August 2023 | 60 s (1.0 min) | 134 km (83 mi) | 25 km (16 mi) | — | Success | [42] |
Landing | |||||||
1 | 23 August 2023 | TBD | — | — | — | Success | [4] |
Mission life
Propulsion Module | Lander Module | Rover Module |
---|---|---|
Carrying Lander Module and Rover upto ~100 x 100 km launch injection.
Subsequently, operation of experimental payload for a period of 3 to 6 months.[43] |
1 Lunar Day (14 Earth Days)[44] | 1 Lunar Day (14 Earth Days)[44] |
Team
- ISRO Chairperson: S. Somanath[7]
- Mission Director: S. Mohanakumar
- Associate Mission Director: G. Narayanan
- Project Director – P. Veeramuthuvel
- Vehicle Director: Biju C Thomas[45]
Funding
In December 2019, it was reported that ISRO requested the initial funding of the project, amounting to ₹75 crore (US$9.0 million), out of which ₹60 crore (US$7.2 million) will be for meeting expenditure towards machinery, equipment and other capital expenditure, while the remaining ₹15 crore (US$1.8 million) is sought under revenue expenditure head.[46]
Confirming the existence of the project, ISRO's former chairman K. Sivan stated that the estimated cost would be around ₹615 crore (equivalent to ₹724 crore or US$87 million in 2023).[47][48][49]
See also
- Indian Human Spaceflight Programme – Indian manned space programme
- Indian Martian Exploration Programme – Indian Mars exploration programme
- Venus Orbiter Mission – Indian Venus exploration mission
- Aditya-L1 – Indian solar observation mission
- Gaganyaan - crewed spacecraft being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation
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External links
- Media related to Chandrayaan-3 at Wikimedia Commons