Chandrayaan-3: ISRO launches third expedition to land, explore Moon's South Pole

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India’s premier space organisation, on Friday (July 14) launched its ambitious third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3, eyeing a rare feat in Moon exploration so far accomplished only by the US, China and the former Soviet Union.

The hugely anticipated Chandrayaan-3, ISRO’s third lunar expedition in 15 years, embarked on its month-long journey towards the Moon, piggybacking on the space agency’s latest heavy-lift launch vehicle, Fat boy LVM3-M4, from the spaceport in Sriharikota. The soft landing of the payload, the most challenging part of the mission, is planned for late August. Chandrayaan-2 could not achieve this objective when communication with the Lander Vikram was lost.

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As the 25.30 hour countdown concluded, the LVM3-M4 rocket (formerly GSLVMk III) soared off majestically from the spaceport at the prefixed time of 2.35 pm from the second launch pad, leaving a trail of thick orange smoke.

Thousands of spectators, who had assembled there to watch the launch since morning, broke into loud cheers and applauded as the launch vehicle soared into clear skies. About 16 minutes after lift-off, Chandrayaan-3 got separated from the rocket and it would orbit the earth for about five–six times in an elliptical cycle with 170 km closest and 36,500 km farthest from earth moving towards the lunar orbit.

Soft landing on Moon

Through the Chandrayaan-3 mission, scientists are aiming at mastering the technology of soft landing on the surface of the moon. A successful mission would mean India becomes only the fourth country, after the United States, China and the former Soviet Union, to overcome the challenge.

A jubilant ISRO Chairman S Somanath said from the Mission Control Centre (MCC) the rocket had injected Chandrayaan-3 into a precise orbit. “Congratulations, India. Chandrayaan-3 has started its journey towards moon. Our dear LVM 3 has already put Chandrayaan-3 craft into the precise orbit around earth… and let us wish all the best for Chandrayaan-3 craft for its further orbit raising maneuvers and travel towards moon in the coming days,” he said.

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Mission director S Mohana Kumar said that LVM3 rocket has once again proved to be the most reliable heavy-lift vehicle of ISRO. “We are in the process of increasing the launch frequency of this vehicle considering the national requirements as well as satellite demands,” he said. “Today’s mission was a penance of many across ISRO,” he added.

Project director P Veeramuthuvel said all the spacecraft health parameters, including power generation in propulsion module and lander module, were normal.

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh described the launch as a moment of glory for India and moment of destiny for all those in Sriharikota. Lauding Team ISRO for making India proud, he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi “for making this possible by unlocking the gates of Sriharikota and enabling India’s space sector”.

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He said the prime minister had recently said sky is not the limit and living by his words, “I think Chandrayaan has gone beyond the limit of sky to explore the unexplored horizons of the universe beyond”.

“Today was also a day of vindication,” he said, while speaking about the late Vikram Sarabhai, hailed as the Father of India’s space programme. “This day is an indication of a dream Vikram Sarabhai saw six decades ago. He might have been short of resources, but never short of confidence. Sarabhai and his team had faith in themselves, in India’s potential and its acumen,” he added.

Earlier, every announcement from the MCC on successful “separation” of the respective modules was received with cheers and applause. Singh and host of former ISRO chiefs were present to witness the launch.

Journey ahead

The LVM3 rocket is a composite of three modules – propulsion, lander and rover, which is housed inside the lander.

Following the separation from the launch vehicle, the propulsion module along with the lander would proceed for an over a month-long journey to reach the orbit of the moon until it goes 100 km above the lunar surface. After reaching the desired altitude, the lander module would begin its descent for a soft landing on the moon’s south-pole region. This key action is expected to take place by August 23 or 24, scientists at ISRO said.

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Chandrayaan-3 is the third lunar exploration mission and the fourth operational mission (M4) of the LVM3 launcher. The mission is expected to be supportive to future interplanetary missions.

It consists of an indigenous propulsion module, lander module and a rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions, ISRO said.

The LVM3 rocket has completed six consecutive successful missions and has proved its versatility to undertake most complex missions including injecting multi-satellites and interplanetary missions, among others. It is also the largest and heaviest launch vehicle ferrying Indian and international customer satellites, ISRO said.

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The reason to fix the launch window during the month of July similar to Chandrayaan-2 mission (July 22, 2019) is because the earth and moon would be closer to each other during this part of the year.

Chandrayaan’s earlier missions were held in 2008 and 2019.

The moon’s South Pole region has been chosen for exploration because the lunar south pole remains much larger than that at the north pole. There could be a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.

SHAPE makes Chandrayaan-3 unique

The significance about Chandrayaan-3 mission, unlike its unsuccessful predecessor, is that the propulsion module has a payload called SHAPE – Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth – which is to study earth from lunar orbit.

ISRO said the SHAPE is an experimental payload to study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of the Earth in the near-infrared wavelength range.

Apart from the SHAPE payload, the propulsion module’s main function is to carry the lander module from launch vehicle injection orbit till lander separation.

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The lander module after landing on the surface of the moon has payloads including RAMBHA-LP, which is to measure the near-surface plasma ions and electrons’ density and its changes, ChaSTE – Chandra’s Surface Thermo Physical Experiment – to carry out the measurements of thermal properties of lunar surface near polar region and ILSA (Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity) to measure seismicity around the landing site and delineating the structure of the lunar crust and mantle.

The Rover, after the soft-landing, would come out of the lander module and study the surface of the moon through its payloads APXS – Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer – to derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of the lunar surface. The Rover, which has a mission life of 1 lunar day (14 Earth days) has another payload, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS), to determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site, ISRO said.

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(With inputs from agencies)