Chandrayaan 3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan 2 to show end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It consists of Lander and Rover configuration. LVM3 will launch it from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit. The propulsion module has a Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study Earth's spectral and Polari metric measurements from the lunar orbit.

The topic chandrayaan 3 upsc is related to the General Studies Paper III, which covers Science & Technology, Earth Science, Space Technology, About Chandrayaan 3, Significance of Chandrayaan 3 Programme, Future Space Programme of ISRO, Key Challenges in the Indian Space Programme Mission, etc. Chandrayaan 3 UPSC becomes an important topic for prelims, mains, and interviews. This article explains Chandrayaan 3 UPSC in detail using simple words, short sentences, and clear facts. If you are preparing for UPSC, this article will help you understand every part of Chandrayaan 3 UPSC. Join UPSC Coaching today to raise your preparation. 

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Chandrayaan-3 is the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme, a series of lunar exploration missions formed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The mission consists of a Vikram lunar lander and a Pragyan lunar rover as substitutes for the equivalents on Chandrayaan-2, which crashed on landing in 2019. The event was telecast on ISRO Chandrayaan 3 live streams. People across India watched the Chandrayaan 3 launch live with pride.

The spacecraft was launched on July 14 July 14, 2023, at 14:35 IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, India. It entered lunar orbit on August 5, August 5, and touched down near the lunar south pole, at 69°S, on August 23 August 23, 2023, at 18:04 IST (12:33 UTC). With this landing, ISRO became the fourth national space agency to successfully land on the Moon, after the Soviet space program, NASA and CNSA. Chandrayaan 3 live location and Chandrayaan-3 status live were updated on ISRO's site.People could check Chandrayaan 3 live tracker and learn where Chandrayaan 3 is now. It sent Chandrayaan 3 images and data back to ISRO.

History

The lunar south pole region holds particular interest for scientific exploration. Studies show significant amounts of ice there. The ice could contain solid-state compounds that would usually melt under warmer conditions elsewhere on the Moon, which could provide insight into lunar, Earth, and Solar System history. For the first time on the lunar surface, a laser beam from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was broadcast on 12 December 2023, and a tiny NASA retroreflector on board the Vikram lander reflected it. The experiment aimed to determine the retroreflector's surface location from the Moon's orbit. The Chandrayaan-3 lander's Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) instrument began acting as a location marker close to the lunar south pole. Through multinational cooperation, the LRA was housed on the Vikram lander.

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Objectives of Chandrayaan 3 Mission

Chandrayaan-3 Mission is the second attempt of the Indian Space Research Organisation after the Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate India's capability to land and rove on the lunar surface safely. One of the many goals of the Mission is to look for water ice that could support future human life on the Moon and supply propellants for spacecraft in future interplanetary missions. The objectives of the Chandrayaan-3 mission are:

• Safe and Soft Landing on the Lunar Surface by the Lander.
• Roving on the Moon by the Rover.
• In-situ scientific experiments by the Rover.

ISRO Moon Mission Chandrayaan 3 - An Overview

ISRO moon mission Chandrayaan 3 is India’s third lunar mission. Unlike Chandrayaan 2, it focused only on soft landing and rover exploration.

Spacecraft

Chandrayaan 3 is India’s third lunar mission developed by ISRO to explore the Moon's surface. It successfully landed near the lunar south pole, showcasing India's growing capabilities in space exploration.

Design

Chandrayaan-3’s design includes a lander named Vikram and a rover called Pragyan, built without an orbiter. It focused on a safe lunar landing and surface exploration near the Moon’s south pole. Chandrayaan-3 comprises three main components: a propulsion module, lander module, and rover.

Propulsion module

The propulsion module carried the lander and rover configuration to a 100-kilometre (62 mi) lunar orbit. It was a box-like structure with a large solar panel mounted on one side and a cylindrical mounting structure for the lander (the Intermodular Adapter Cone) on top.

Vikram Lander

The Vikram lander was responsible for the soft landing on the Moon. It is also box-shaped, with four landing legs and four landing thrusters capable of producing 800 newtons of thrust each. It carried the rover and had various scientific instruments to perform on-site analysis. The lander has four variable-thrust engines with slew rate-changing capabilities.

The altitude correction rate was increased from Chandrayaan-2's 10°/s to 25°/s with Chandrayaan-3. The Chandrayaan-3 lander is equipped with a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) to measure altitude in three directions. The impact legs were stronger than Chandrayaan-2, and instrumentation redundancy was improved. It targeted a more precise 16 km2 (6.2 sq mi) landing region based on images from the Orbiter High-Resolution Camera (OHRC) onboard Chandrayaan-2's orbiter. 

ISRO improved the structural rigidity, increased polling in instruments, increased data frequency and transmission, and added additional multiple contingency systems to improve lander survivability in the event of failure during descent and landing.

Rover pragyan

The Rover of Chandrayaan 3 is a six-wheeled vehicle with a mass of 26 kilograms (57 pounds). It is 917 by 750 by 397 millimetres (36.1 in × 29.5 in × 15.6 in) in size. The rover is expected to take multiple measurements to support research into the composition of the lunar surface, the presence of water ice in the lunar soil, the history of lunar impacts, and the evolution of the Moon's atmosphere.

Chandrayaan-3 Payloads Table

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Mission Profile

Chandrayaan-3 mission profile includes a lander (Vikram), a rover (Pragyan), and a propulsion module. The mission aimed for a soft landing near the Moon's south pole, followed by scientific experiments on the lunar surface. It showcased India’s capability in lunar surface operations without an orbiter.

Launch

• Chandrayaan-3 was launched aboard an LVM3-M4 rocket on 14 July 2023, at 09:05 UTC from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India.
• entering an Earth parking orbit with a perigee of 170 km (106 mi) and an apogee of 36,500 km (22,680 mi). 
• On 15 November 2023, the Cryogenic Upper Stage (C25) of the rocket (NORAD ID: 57321) made an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere around 9:12 UTC.
• The impact point is predicted over the North Pacific Ocean, and the final ground track did not pass over India.

Orbit

• After a series of Earth-bound manoeuvres that placed Chandrayaan 3 in a trans-lunar injection orbit. 
• ISRO performed a lunar-orbit insertion (LOI) on 5 August, successfully putting the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into an orbit around the Moon. 
• The LOI operation was done by ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru. 
• On 17 August, the Vikram lander separated from the propulsion module to begin landing operations.

Landing

• On 23 August 2023, as the lander approached the low point of its orbit, its four engines fired as a braking manoeuvre at 30 kilometres (19 mi) above the Moon's surface. 
• After 11.5 minutes, the lander was 7.2 km (4.5 miles) above the surface; it maintained this altitude for about 10 seconds, stabilized itself using eight smaller thrusters and rotated from a horizontal to a vertical position while continuing its descent.
• It then used two of its four engines to slow its descent to roughly 150 metres (490 ft); it hovered there for about 30 seconds and located an optimal landing spot before continuing downward and touching down at 12:33 UTC.

Surface operations

• On 3 September, the rover was put into sleep mode after it had completed all of its assignments. 
• Its batteries were charged, and the receiver was left on, according to ISRO, in preparation for the impending lunar night. 
• "The rover's payloads are turned off and the data it collected has been transmitted to Earth via the lander", the statement said. 
• Chandrayaan-3's lander and rover were expected to operate only for one lunar daylight period, or 14 Earth days, and the onboard electronics were not designed to withstand the −120 °C (−184 °F) nighttime temperatures on the Moon. 
• On 22 September, the lander and rover missed their wake-up calls, and by 28 September, neither had responded, diminishing hopes for further surface operations.

Hop experiment

• Vikram fired its engines for a brief 'hop' on the lunar surface on 3 September, ascending 40 cm (16 in) off the lunar surface and translating a similar distance laterally across it.
• The test demonstrated capabilities to be used in potential future sample return missions.
• The instruments and rover deployment ramp were retracted for the hop and redeployed afterwards.

Mission life

• Propulsion module: Carrie's lander and rover went to a 100-by-100-kilometre (62 mi × 62 mi) orbit, with the operation of experimental payload for up to six months but lasted for more than a year.
• Lander module: one lunar daylight period (14 Earth days).
• Rover module: one lunar daylight period (14 Earth days).

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