Chandrayaan-3 moon mission to be launched on July 14, announces ISRO

BangaloreChandrayaan-3 mission will be launched on July 14 at 2.35 pm, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced on Thursday, with the lander expected to soft-land on the lunar surface on August 23 or 24. Chandrayaan-3 is the follow-up mission to Chandrayaan-2, which demonstrated the full capability of safe landing and orbiting on the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which will be launched by LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-III) (earlier called GSLV Mk III), a combination of three modules – propulsion, lander and rover (which is housed inside the lander) Is. ,

“LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Launch is now scheduled for July 14, 2023 at 2:35 PM from SDSC, Sriharikota,” said the national space agency headquartered here.

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Announcement of the launch of Chandrayaan-3:

LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
launch is now scheduled
July 14, 2023, 2:35 PM IST
From SDSC, Sriharikota

Stay tuned for updates! – ISRO (@isro) 6 July 2023

Secretary, Department of Space and ISRO Chairman Somnath S told reporters that the space agency would attempt a soft landing of the lander on August 23 or August 24.

ISRO officials said the mission life of the lander is one lunar day, which is equivalent to 14 Earth days.

“(For soft-landing) the date is decided on the basis of when the moon rises. At the time of landing, there should be sunlight. The moon has sunlight for 14-15 days and the next 14- There is no sunlight for 15 days,” he said.

Chandrayaan-3 mission will perform a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface

The Chandrayaan-3 mission carries scientific instruments to study the thermo-physical properties of lunar regolith, lunar seismicity, lunar surface plasma atmosphere and elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site.

While the scope of these scientific instruments on the lander and rover will fit the theme of “Science of the Moon”, another experimental instrument will study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of Earth from lunar orbit, which will fit the theme, according to ISRO officials, “Moon Science”. to science”.

In March this year, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully completed the required tests, confirming the spacecraft’s ability to withstand the harsh vibration and acoustic environment it would encounter during its launch.

The propulsion module, which carries the Spectro-Polarimeter payload for habitable planet Earth (SHAPE) to study spectral and polar measurements of Earth from lunar orbit, will carry the lander and rover configuration up to 100 km of lunar orbit.

LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3
Mission: The LVM3 M4 vehicle is towed to the launch pad.

The final phase of preparations for the launch has begun. pic.twitter.com/fb5eg5nzrn– ISRO (@isro) 6 July 2023

The lander payloads are: ‘Lunar Surface Thermophysical Experiment’ to measure thermal conductivity and temperature; ‘Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity’ to measure seismicity around the landing site; and ‘Langmuir probe’ to estimate plasma density and its variations.

A passive laser retroreflector array from the US space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has also been adjusted for lunar laser ranging studies. The rover payloads are: ‘Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer’ and ‘Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy’ to obtain elemental composition around the landing site.

The lander will have the capability to perform a soft-landing at a designated lunar site and deploy the rover which will perform in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during its mobility.

The main function of the propulsion module is to lift and separate the lander module from launch vehicle injection to the final lunar 100 km circular polar orbit. Besides this, the propulsion module also has a scientific payload as a value addition which will be operated after the separation of the lander module, it was noted.