An Indian spacecraft makes
history by landing for the first time on the lunar surface on August 23 at 6:04
p.m. The robotic lander of the Chandrayaan 3 mission, named Vikram,
accomplished its mission by descending on the moon near the south pole. This results
from recovering from the two unfortunate crashes of the lunar landing, and
India is the fourth country to triumph over the soft landing. The lunar descent
of Chandarayaan 3 is copiously self-directed; the vital task of the Vikram is
to limit its high orbital velocity to zero to ensure a close stay with its
intended flight. For that, Vikram needs to toil on the firing of its engines
based on unremitting dimensions in distance, rate, and positioning.
ISRO ensured strict safety to
fix the landing this time, which was mentioned by the chief of team S. Somanath
on August 5th. They mainly focus on more fuel carriage, better guidance
navigation, and a more brilliant control system than last time. The pointing of
every step resulted in the triumph. The ISRO focuses on all the minute measures
and spends time on each part guardedly.
The spacecraft is made up of
two chief apparatuses: the propulsion module and the lander rover module. The
prime function of the propulsion module is to transfer the lander rover's
payload to the moon. This lander, like Chandrayaan-2, is named Vikram, while
the rover is named Pragyan. When the lander comes close to the moon, it
detaches from the propulsion module and gently drops onto the moon's surface.
The rover is outfitted with several instruments and will crawl around the
surface of the moon to conduct tests. These include researching subsurface heat
conduction and observing lunar quakes, as well as evaluating the moon's soil.
The major brains behind the
mission include ISRO Chief S. Somanath, who bravely accepted the challenge of
the great mission, and P. Veeramuthuvel, who was the project director. Apart
from these heads, many hands worked for this great accomplishment.
Soft landing in the South Pole
Chandrayaan 3's main
objective was a safe landing since it is one of the riskiest areas on the lunar
surface. The soft landing is done to ensure the safety of the spacecraft;
otherwise, it may crash and lead to the failure of the mission. The selected
landing site is nearly south of the moon, which possesses a 70-degree altitude
and is not fit for the operation of instruments or the proper working of
solar-powered instruments. Most of the parts are pitch-black without sufficient
sunlight. Thus, the previous spacecraft preferred to land near the equator of
the moon, which is a comparatively risk-free area for landing.
The unexplored areas,
especially the north and south poles of the moons, provide hints about the
early solar systems. Chandrayaan 2 was also on the mission of landing near the
South Pole, but regrettably, it could not complete the soft landing.
The flattered mission of Chandrayaan 2
Chandrayaan-2 lost control of
its fall around 7.2 km from the Lunation's surface. Its communications system
sent information about the loss of control up to 400 meters above the surface.
When the Lander crashed, it had reduced to roughly 580 km/h.
What is next?
ISRO is behind the Aditya L1
mission, which would be India's first space-based observatory to study the Sun.
It is premeditated to be unconfined around the end of August or early September
2023 and will cost approximately 378 crores.
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