Chandrayaan-3 Successfully Lands on Moon's South Pole

Why are they in the News?

Chandrayaan-3 made history when it became the first mission to soft-land on the lunar south pole, a previously unexplored region. The objective of the mission was to demonstrate a safe and gentle lunar landing, rover mobility, and in-situ scientific investigations.

  • India is now one of the few nations to effectively land on the Moon, joining the United States, Russia, and China.

How did Chandrayaan-3 overcome the obstacles encountered by its predecessor?

  • Chandrayaan-3's successful touchdown followed the 2019 failure of the Chandrayaan-2 mission's landing.
  • Chandrayaan-2's Vikram lander lost control and communication during descent, resulting in a collision with the lunar surface.
  • Chandrayaan-3 employed Chandrayaan-2's lessons by emphasizing a "failure-based" design approach to anticipate and mitigate potential problems.
  • Important modifications included reinforcing the lander's legs, increasing fuel reserves, and increasing the landing site's adaptability.

What actions are planned for Chandrayaan-3 following its landing?

  • On the lunar surface, Chandrayaan-3 is anticipated to operate for at least one lunar day (14 Earth days).
  • The Pragyan rover will travel within a 500-meter radius of the landing site, conducting experiments and transmitting data and images to the lander.
  • The orbiter will transmit the data and images to Earth after receiving them from the spacecraft.
  • Lander and Rover modules are outfitted with sophisticated scientific payloads.
  • These instruments are intended to conduct exhaustive investigations into various aspects of lunar characteristics, including terrain analysis, mineralogical composition, surface chemistry, atmospheric attributes, and, most importantly, the search for potential water and resource reservoirs.
  • The propulsion module that carried the lander and rover configuration to 100 km lunar orbit is also equipped with a Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to investigate spectral and Polari metric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.

What are Future ISRO Expeditions?

  • Chandrayaan-4: Pathfinding for Lunar Evolution
  • Chandrayaan-4 emerges as a prospective candidate for a sample return mission based on previous missions.
  • If successful, it would be the next logical stage after Chandrayaan-2 and 3, enabling the retrieval of samples from the lunar surface.
  • The mission has the potential to advance our comprehension of the composition and history of the Moon.
  • LUPEX: The Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission, a joint endeavor between ISRO and JAXA(Japan), will explore the polar regions of the Moon.
  • It will be designed specifically to traverse permanently shaded areas.
  • LUPEX's objectives include investigating the presence of water and assessing the viability of a long-term station.
  • Aditya-L1 will be the first Indian space-based mission to investigate the Sun.
  • The spacecraft will be set in a halo orbit around the Lagrange 1 (L1) point of the Sun-Earth system, which is approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
  • Aditya-L1 is primarily concerned with observing the sun's corona, emissions, solar winds, eruptions, and coronal mass ejections.
  • XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is India's first dedicated polarimetry mission to investigate the dynamics of extremely bright astronomical X-ray sources.
  • In low Earth orbit, the spacecraft will transport two scientific payloads.
  • NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory that is being developed in collaboration with NASA and ISRO.
  • NISAR will provide spatially and temporally consistent data for comprehending changes in Earth's ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, groundwater, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes.
  • The mission of Gaganyaan is to send humans into space and return them to Earth securely. Using the GSLV Mk III launch vehicle and a human-rated orbital module, the mission will comprise of two unmanned flights and one manned flight.
  • The manned flight will transport three astronauts, including a woman, into low Earth orbit for up to seven days.
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