India’s Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 scripted history by successfully landing on the lunar surface earlier today at 6:04 pm. With the Lander accomplishing a ‘soft landing’ on the Moon’s south pole, India becomes the only country to have ever done so. Now, a rover, which is a small vehicle that is meant to move around on the Moon’s surface, will come out of the Lander.
When Chandrayaan-3 took off for the Moon on July 14, we explained the basics of the mission – how a mission launches into Space, what the Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 missions were, etc.
As of the last knowledge update in September 2021, Chandrayaan-3 had been announced as India’s third lunar exploration mission. However, up to that point, it had not yet been launched. Chandrayaan-3 was intended to be a follow-up mission to Chandrayaan-2, with a focus on landing a rover on the Moon’s surface.
Chandrayaan-2, which was launched in July 2019, consisted of an orbiter, a lander (Vikram), and a rover (Pragyan). While the orbiter successfully continues to study the Moon from orbit, the Vikram lander crash-landed during its attempted landing on the lunar surface, resulting in the loss of the rover mission.
Chandrayaan-3 was expected to build upon the lessons learned from Chandrayaan-2 and specifically target a successful soft landing of a rover on the Moon’s surface.
All of the previous spacecraft to have landed on the Moon have landed in the region near the Moon’s equator, firstly because it is easier and safer here. The terrain and temperature are more conducive for a long and sustained operation of instruments. Sunlight is also present, offering a regular supply of energy to solar-powered instruments.
The polar regions of the Moon, however, are different. Many parts lie in a completely dark region without sunlight, and temperatures can go below 230 degrees Celsius. This creates difficulty in the operation of instruments. In addition, there are large craters all over the place.
According to ISRO, the mission’s three objectives are to demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate a Rover roving on the Moon and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
