Chandrayaan-3 Enters Lunar ORBIT Are Too Good to Be True?

On Saturday, August 5, 2023, India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, successfully entered lunar orbit following a precise trajectory plotted by the Indian Space Research Organisation. During its three-week voyage through outer space, it covered nearly 300,000 km. The probe’s velocity will gradually decrease over the next 18 days as it is maneuvered into a lower orbit of approximately 100 km. This will pave the way for the highly anticipated gentle landing near the lunar south pole on August 23 at 5:47 p.m.

From the Mission Operations Complex, ISTRAC, a retro-burn was initiated at the perilune. Subsequently, the propulsion module will detach from the lander while still in orbit. Afterward, a series of intricate braking maneuvers will be executed to ensure a safe landing in the moon’s South Polar zone on August 23, according to an ISRO statement.

The Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover closely resemble those employed in the Chandrayaan-2 mission. The Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander successfully descended to within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the Moon in September 2019. It entered “fine braking” mode in an attempt to achieve a soft landing on the moon’s surface. Similar to its predecessor Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3 aims to explore the Moon’s south pole region, renowned for harboring ice within permanently shadowed craters.

Unfortunately, a software glitch caused Vikram to deviate from its intended path, resulting in the loss of communication with the spacecraft. Subsequently, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter located debris from the vehicle roughly 750 meters (half a mile) away from the intended landing site.

Despite this setback, the Chandrayaan-2 mission was not a complete failure. It included an orbiter that is still operational and conducting lunar research from its orbit. The orbiter can hunt for water ice on the Moon, among other objectives. ISRO has extensively revised the lander’s software and conducted thorough testing to ensure the success of Chandrayaan-3. Unlike Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3 will not carry an orbiter. However, the propulsion module is equipped with a scientific instrument capable of observing Earth as if it were an exoplanet. This data will prove valuable for future exoplanet research.

ISRO will join a restricted group of nations that have successfully landed spacecraft on celestial bodies if the touchdown is successful. Chandrayaan-3 not only intends to accomplish this feat, but it also includes modern technology to display as well as a variety of scientific missions to undertake on the lunar surface.

Upon a successful landing, the Chandrayaan-3 lander will deploy one of its side panels, creating a ramp for the rover’s deployment. Both the lander and rover are powered by solar panels and will have approximately two weeks to conduct their lunar research. However, they are not designed to withstand the extreme cold of the lunar night. The rover can only communicate with the lander, which in turn establishes direct contact with Earth. ISRO has suggested that the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft could serve as an additional communications relay if required as a contingency plan. Following this, the rover will exit the lander’s interior, descend the ramp, and embark on its exploratory journey across the lunar terrain.

Achieving success would mark a significant milestone for India, making it the fourth nation in history, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and China, to achieve a successful soft landing of a probe on the moon.

-Hrishika Tripathi

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Hrishika TripathiContent Writer

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