A MAJOR STEP FOR INDIA, OVER THE MOON

On Wednesday, the Chandrayaan-3 lander module, carrying cutting-edge scientific gear as well as the hopes and dreams of a 140-million-strong nation, touched down on the lunar surface, making India the first nation to reach the unexplored south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.

With this significant accomplishment, India joined the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union as the fourth nation to perfect the technique of a soft landing on the moon.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft touched down on the lunar south pole at 6:04 p.m. (IST) on Wednesday, ending the agonizing wait for Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientists and millions of people in India and across the globe less than a week after Russia’s Luna-25 mission failed.

While attending the BRICS conference in South Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually accompanied ISRO for Chandrayaan-3’s final ascent. He thanked India when the Vikram lander successfully landed on the south pole of the moon, referring to it as the “dawn of a new era”.

“This is a rare and priceless time. The ‘jaighosh’ of the new India is right now. The PM addressed the country live from South Africa as smiling scientists and technicians rejoiced at ISRO’s Bengaluru headquarters: “This moment is the strength of 1.4 billion heartbeats, Amrit Varsha in this phase of Amrit Kaal.”

In an exclusive interview with News18, ISRO chairman S. Somanath remarked, “We are all very jubilant.” “We all had great confidence in the gentle landing…It was a perfect landing…The first Chandrayaan launched the Chandrayaan mission.It has been a long road.

Thousands of people prayed for the mission’s success at religious locations as well as with oil lamps along river banks, notably in the holy city of Varanasi, while others gathered around TVs and large screens in workplaces, businesses, restaurants, and residences. Children were treated to unique live screenings of the historic occasion at several schools.

The objective of the mission is to investigate the southern polar area of the moon, which possesses water ice or frozen water and may provide oxygen, fuel, and water for further lunar excursions or a more long-term moon colony.

Following a safe landing, the Chandrayaan-3 is anticipated to continue operating for two weeks while conducting a number of experiments, including a spectrometer investigation of the lunar surface’s mineral composition.

The Chandrayaan project, sometimes referred to as the Indian lunar exploration program, involves a number of ISRO space missions. Chandrayaan-1, the first mission, was launched in 2008 and successfully inserted itself into lunar orbit.

On September 7, 2019, Chandrayaan-2 had a lunar phase failure when its lander Vikram collided with the moon’s surface while attempting a landing due to braking system irregularities.

The goals of Chandrayaan-3, a follow-up mission to Chandrayaan-2, are to show a safe and gentle landing on the lunar surface, lunar wandering, and in-situ scientific experimentation.

Chandrayaan-3, with a projected expenditure of Rs 615 crore, is one of India’s most economical space missions. It is much less expensive than many high-budget movies and less expensive than its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which will travel for 41 days to get close to the lunar south pole, was launched on July 14 on a Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket.

In April of last year, ISRO released the first image from the third lunar mission. The Covid-19 epidemic caused the introduction to be postponed from its original 2020 debut date.

To guarantee success this time around, ISRO made a number of adjustments to Chandrayaan-3 after learning from its previous iteration.

A lander module (LM), a propulsion module (PM), and a rover made up the spacecraft. The lander has the potential to soft-land at a chosen location on the moon and release the rover, which would conduct research there. The lander module was transported by the propulsion module from the launch vehicle injection to the final 100 km circular polar orbit of the moon.

The name “Vikram” honors Vikram Sarabhai, the pioneer of India’s space programs. He left behind the creation of ISRO, which propelled India towards space exploration. His name represents development.

The rover was given the name Pragyan, which means knowledge. It works after landing and gathers information from five scientific instruments housed inside the lander and rover.

On July 14, 2023, Chandrayaan-3 was launched by the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-MK III) heavy-lift rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh.

The mission is significant because the propulsion module carries SHAPE, or Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth, a payload designed to examine Earth from lunar orbit.

After its July 14 launch, Chandrayaan-3 carried out a series of maneuvers to progressively raise its orbit before directing its path straight toward the moon. The spacecraft continued its Earth-bound maneuvers until July 31 before entering a translunar orbit.

On August 1, Chandrayaan-3 executed the Trans Lunar Injection (TLI), a propelling maneuver that hurled the spacecraft away from Earth’s orbit and toward the moon. The lunar craft was propelled by the maneuver towards the direction of the moon.

On August 5, Chandrayaan-3 reached lunar orbit. On August 6, 9, 14, and 16, orbit reduction maneuvers were performed.

On August 16, ISRO completed the fifth and final orbit lowering maneuver with success.

On August 17, the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, which make up the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module (LM), successfully disengaged from the propulsion module.

After separating, the lander performed a “deboost” (the act of slowing down) to put it in an orbit with a perilune (the point nearest to the moon) of 30 km and an apolune (the point farthest from the moon) of 100 km.

On August 20, the landing module was put in a 25 km x 134 km orbit around the moon after the second and final deboosting procedure. On August 23 at 6:04 p.m., a successful attempt to land the lander was made.

India’s accomplishment comes as major space-faring nations are making their first lunar landing in 50 years in search of water and essential minerals trapped in the lunar exosphere and surface.

A more stable climate is made possible by the moon, which is 3,84,400 km away from our planet and moderates the Earth’s axial wobble. In the seas of the globe, it also creates tides. According to current theories, it originated 4.5 billion years ago when a large object crashed with the Earth. The moon was created from the collision’s leftover pieces.