Chandrayaan-3


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Chandrayaan-3 (transl. Moon-craft, pronunciationⓘ)[7] is the third Indian lunar exploration mission under the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Chandrayaan programme.[7] It consists of a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan, similar to those of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. The propulsion module carried the lander and rover configuration to lunar orbit in preparation for a powered descent by the lander.[8][9]

Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 Integrated Module in cleanroom before encapsulation

Mission type
OperatorISRO
COSPAR ID2023-098A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.57320Edit this on Wikidata
Websitewww.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3.html
Mission duration1 year, 2 months and 15 days (elapsed)
  • Propulsion module: ≤ 3 to 6 months (planned) 1 year, 1 month and 24 days (elapsed) (since orbit insertion)
  • Vikram lander: ≤ 1 year, 1 month and 6 days (elapsed) (since landing)
  • Pragyan rover: ≤ 14 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
BusChandrayaan
ManufacturerISRO
Launch mass3900 kg[1]
Payload massPropulsion Module: 2148.00 kg
Lander Module (Vikram): 1752 kg including Rover (Pragyan) of 26 kg
Total: 3900.00 kg
PowerPropulsion Module: 758 W
Lander Module: 738W,
WS with Bias Rover: 50W
Start of mission
Launch date14 July 2023 14:35:17 IST, (9:05:17 UTC)[2][3]
RocketLVM3 M4
Launch siteSatish Dhawan Space Centre
ContractorISRO
Moon orbiter
Spacecraft componentLander
Orbital insertion5 August 2023
Orbital parameters
Pericynthion altitude153 km (95 mi)
Apocynthion altitude163 km (101 mi)
Moon lander
Spacecraft componentRover
Landing date23 August 2023 18:02 IST, (12:32 UTC)[4]
Landing site69°22′03″S 32°20′53″E / 69.367621°S 32.348126°E [5]

(between Manzinus C and Simpelius N craters)[6]

Chandrayaan-3 launched on 14 July 2023,[10] and the lander and rover landed near the lunar south pole region on 23 August 2023, making India the first nation to successfully land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole, and the fourth country to land on the Moon.[11][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.[12] 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.[13][14]

Following Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3 and further lunar missions were proposed.[15]

The European Space Tracking (ESTRACK), operated by the European Space Agency (ESA,) will support the mission of Chandryan 3. Under a 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:

  1. Getting a lander to land safely and softly on the surface of the Moon.
  2. Observing and demonstrating the rover’s loitering capabilities on the Moon.
  3. 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 carries 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 carries the rover and various scientific instruments to perform in-site analysis.

The lander for Chandrayaan-3 has 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

 
LVM3 M4, Chandrayaan-3 – Launch vehicle lifting off from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) of SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota

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

 
Chandrayaan-3 orbital maneuver
 
Integrated module in clean room

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

References

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