Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up mission to Chandrayaan-2 that focused on achieving a secure and gentle landing on the Moon’s South Pole. In the earlier attempt, Chandrayaan-2 effectively positioned an orbiter, yet its lander and rover were destroyed in a collision close to the area where Chandrayaan-3 landed.
Here are a few interesting facts about Chandrayaan-3 that might excite you:
First Country at the Moon’s South Pole
India has accomplished the distinction of being the inaugural nation to achieve a soft landing near the Moon’s southern pole. Previous landings have centred around the lunar equator. The South Pole, harbouring unexplored minerals and water sources is all set to be explored for the first time.
Chandrayaan-3 – Rover and Lander
Comprising a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan, Chandrayaan-3 pays tribute to Vikram Sarabhai, the visionary behind India’s space endeavours and ISRO’s inception. Following a secure touchdown, the Pragyan rover of Chandrayaan 3 will venture into lunar surface exploration.
Chandrayaan-3 Built with a Low Cost
The Chandrayaan-3 mission comes at an approximate cost of ₹650 crore ($75 million), which is significantly less compared to expenditures by other nations, underscoring India’s efficient and cost-effective approach to space engineering. It comes as a shocker to many that big-budget movies these days are costlier in comparison to this amount spent.
Equipped with the Best
The Vikram lander is fixed with four instruments designed for various purposes: detecting moonquakes, analysing the plasma surroundings, investigating heat flow, and comprehending gravitational interactions. Weighing 1749.86 kg, the Vikram lander carries the Rover Pragyan within it and is designed for a mission duration of one Lunar day, equivalent to 14 days on Earth.
The rover Pragyan will send images and data from the surface of the moon. The mission will endeavour to study water-ice, which was first detected by Chandrayaan-1.
The mission aims to uncover the composition of chemicals in the lunar soil. This will be achieved through the use of an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), which will analyse the elemental makeup (including magnesium, aluminium, silicon, potassium, calcium, titanium, and iron) of the lunar soil and rocks in the vicinity of the landing site.
Indian Flag and ISRO Emblem Etched to the Moon
The rover Pragyan of Chandrayaan-3 will leave imprints of the ISRO logo and India’s national emblem on the lunar soil. As a result, India will achieve the distinction of being the sole nation to have left its symbolic presence at the Moon’s unexplored south pole, a region untouched by any other country’s missions to date.
Companies behind Chandrayaan-3
The companies that have contributed to the Chandrayaan-3 mission are – Larsen and Toubro (L&T), BHEL, MTAR Technologies, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd, Centum Electronics, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Walchandnagar Industries, Paras Defence & Space Technologies, Linde India, and Godrej Aerospace.
Did you know?
The Vikram lander is named after Dr Vikram Sarabhai – the father of the Indian Space Programme.
