Chandrayaan-3: What You Need to Know About the Rover and Lander
Chandrayaan-3: India's historic landing on the Moon
India has achieved a remarkable feat in space exploration by successfully landing its Chandrayaan-3 mission on the lunar south pole region on 23 August 2023. This makes India the first nation to explore this uncharted territory, and the fourth country to soft-land on the Moon after the former Soviet Union, the U.S. and China.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2, which attempted a similar landing in 2019 but failed due to a technical glitch. The Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of a propulsion module, a lander and a rover, which carry seven scientific instruments to conduct various experiments on the Moon's surface.
The mission was launched on 14 July 2023 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, using the Launch Vehicle Mark-III rocket. After a month-long journey, the lander and rover separated from the propulsion module and initiated a powered descent towards the lunar south pole. The landing was completed at 6:04 pm IST (5:34 am PT) on 23 August 2023, and was broadcast live by ISRO, India's space agency.
Introduction to the mission:
Chandrayaan-3 is like the next step after Chandrayaan-2. Its goal is to show that we can safely land on the moon and drive around there. It's made up of a Lander and a Rover. A big rocket called LVM3 will launch it from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. A special part called the propulsion module will take the Lander and Rover close to the moon, about 100 km away. This module also has a tool called SHAPE to study Earth's colours and light from the moon.
Landing site:
The landing site is near the south pole of the moon at 70 degrees latitude, which is a challenging terrain with craters, hills and shadows. The south pole region is also of great scientific interest, as it is believed to contain water ice and other resources that could be useful for future human missions. The lander and rover will operate for one lunar day (14 Earth days) and perform experiments on seismic vibrations, near-surface plasma, lunar temperature, thermal conductivity, elemental composition, and spectral signatures of Earth.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a testament to India's technological prowess and scientific ambition. It also contributes to the global understanding of the Moon and its potential for future exploration. The mission has been hailed by scientists, leaders and celebrities across the world as a proud moment for India and humanity.
Parts and components:
Chandrayaan-3 is made up of three parts: a Lander module (LM), a Propulsion module (PM), and a Rover. Its goal is to create and show new technologies that we need for missions between planets. The Lander can gently land on a specific spot on the moon and release the Rover. This Rover can move around on the moon's surface and study its chemistry. Both the Lander and the Rover have tools for doing scientific experiments on the moon. The Propulsion Module's main job is to carry the Lander from the rocket's launch and put it into a circular path around the moon. After that, the Lander and the Propulsion Module separate. The Propulsion Module also has a scientific tool that can be used after the Lander is on its own. Chandrayaan-3 will be launched using a rocket called LVM3 M4, and it will first be placed in an oval path around the Earth before going to the moon.
The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are:
To demonstrate a Safe and Soft Landing on the Lunar Surface
To demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and
To conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
To achieve the mission objectives, several advanced technologies are present in Lander such as,
Altimeters: Laser & RF based Altimeters
Velocimeters: Laser Doppler Velocimeter & Lander Horizontal Velocity Camera
Inertial Measurement: Laser Gyro based Inertial referencing and Accelerometer package
Propulsion System: 800N Throttleable Liquid Engines, 58N attitude thrusters & Throttleable Engine Control Electronics
Navigation, Guidance & Control (NGC): Powered Descent Trajectory design and associate software elements
Hazard Detection and Avoidance: Lander Hazard Detection & Avoidance Camera and Processing Algorithm
Landing Leg Mechanism.
To demonstrate the above-mentioned advanced technologies in earth conditions, several Lander special tests have been planned and carried out successfully viz.
Integrated Cold Test - For the demonstration of Integrated Sensors & Navigation performance test using helicopter as test platform
Integrated Hot test – For the demonstration of closed loop performance test with sensors, actuators and NGC using Tower crane as test platform
Lander Leg mechanism performance test on a lunar simulant test bed simulating different touch down conditions.
