Chandrayaan-3

GS Paper III Science and Technology

Context:

India’s third moon exploration mission, will share the names associated with the 2019 Chandrayaan2 lunar adventure.

More on News:

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to retain the names of the Chandrayaan2 lander and rover for their Chandrayaan3 equivalents as well.
The Chandrayaan 3 lander will bear the name Vikram (after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme) and the rover, Pragyan.

About Chandrayaan 3:

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
A propulsion module will carry the lander-rover configuration to a 100km lunar orbit.
Once the Vikram lander module makes it safely to the moon, it will deploy Pragyan, which will carry out in situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.
The lander, rover and the propulsion module will have payloads for performing experiments designed to give scientists new insights into the characteristics of the moon.
Payloads of lander:
- Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA),
- Chandra’s Surface Thermo physical Experiment (ChaSTE),
- Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA)
- LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA).
Payloads of six-wheeled rover:
- Alpha Particle X Ray Spectrometer (APXS)
- LASER Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS)
In addition to these, there will be one payload on the propulsion module, the Spectropolarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE)

Additional Information

About Chandrayaan-2:

Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second unmanned lunar mission. It is the 1st Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the moon with indigenous technology.
It comprised of Vikram lander, Pragyan rover, and an orbiter.
Aim: To conduct a detailed study of moon for a better understanding of its origin and evolution.
Crash of ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 Lander-Rover:
- It sought to soft land on the lunar South Pole, in a highland between two craters –Manzinus C and Simpelius N, at a latitude of 70◦S.
- However, the landing probe, Vikram deviated from its trajectory and crashed.
- The ISRO had lost the Chandrayaan 2 lander-rover configuration and the payloads aboard after Vikram crashed on the lunar surface while attempting a soft landing.