The Indian Space Research Organization announced on Thursday that the Chandrayaan-3 The mission launch is scheduled for July 14 at 2:35 p.m. The landing of the lander on the lunar surface is scheduled for August 23 or 24.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up mission too Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate the full capability of safely landing and locomotion on the lunar surface.
Launched by LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-III) (formerly known as GSLV Mk III), the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft consists of three modules – propulsion, lander and rover (which is housed in the lander). .
“LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Launch is now scheduled for July 14, 2023 at 2:35 p.m. IST from SDSC, Sriharikota,” the national space agency, based here, said in a tweet.
Space Ministry Minister and ISRO Chairman Somanath S. told reporters that the space agency will attempt a soft landing of the lander on August 23 or 24.
ISRO officials determined that the lander’s mission lifetime is one lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days.
“The date (for the soft landing) will be set based on sunrise on the moon. Sunlight must be present during landing. The moon has sunlight for 14-15 days and no sunlight for the next 14-15 days,” they noted.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission carries scientific instruments to study the thermophysical properties of the lunar regolith, lunar seismicity, the plasma environment on the lunar surface, and the elemental composition near the landing site.
While the scope of these science instruments on the lander and rover would fit within the theme of “Science from the Moon”, another experimental instrument will examine the Earth’s spectropolarimetric signatures from lunar orbit, which would fit within the theme of “Science from the Moon”. ‘, according to ISRO representatives.’.
In March of this year, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully completed essential tests confirming its ability to withstand the harsh vibration and acoustic environment the spacecraft would encounter during its launch.
The propulsion module, which will carry the Spectro-Polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the Earth’s spectral and polarimetric measurements from lunar orbit, will carry the lander and rover configuration out to a distance of 100 km on the transport lunar orbit.
Lander payloads include: Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment to measure thermal conductivity and temperature; “Lunar Seismic Activity Instrument” to measure seismicity around the landing site; and “Langmuir Probe” to estimate the plasma density and its fluctuations.
A passive laser retroreflector array from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is also earmarked for lunar laser ranging.
The rover payloads are: “Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer” and “Laser Induced Breakthrough Spectroscopy” to deduce the elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site.
The lander will be able to land softly at a specific lunar location and deploy the rover, which will conduct an in situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface over the course of its mobility.
The main function of the propulsion module is to transport the lander module from launch vehicle injection to the moon’s final 100 km circular polar orbit and separate it. In addition, the propulsion module also has an added-value scientific payload, which will be operated after separation from the lander module, it said.
