Chandrayaan-3: A Comprehensive Overview of India's Moon Mission

Overview:

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) dazzled the world with its successful Chandrayaan-1 mission that was launched back in October 2008. It marked an important milestone, as India became the fourth country to reach the Moon. Chandrayaan-2, which was launched in 2019, aimed to land a spacecraft on the Moon's South Pole. Though the mission does not achieve 100 percent objective, Indian scientists achieved a significant portion of its objectives. It paved the way for the upcoming mission Chandrayaan-3, which aims to resume the efforts and will extend scientific learning about our moon with new aspects and objectives.

Origin: Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2:

Chandrayaan-1 was considered India's first lunar mission and was launched on October 22, 2008. It was intended to study the Moon's surface in detail, mineral content, and search for proof of water. With its extensive measurements and findings, it successfully completed 95 percent of its goals and laid the groundwork for future space exploration. Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019, with the goal of making a soft landing on South Pole and to study the surface's composition. The Vikram lander and Pragyan rover aboard the spacecraft were meant to perform several tests and analyse the Moon's surface composition, gravity, and possible presence of water. Alas, the mission was partially successful as contact with the lander was lost just before its landing.

Purpose: Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 is expected to be an exclusively a lander mission. The prime objective of Chandrayaan-3 is to perform a soft landing on the Moon’s surface and deploy a rover to study the surface's composition, thermal analysis, and other properties of the Moon.

Modification: Chandrayaan-2 to Chandrayaan-3:

The fundamental difference between Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3 is the reusability of the lander and rover structure. This time, ISRO is focusing more on the lander and rover's testing and modification procedures. Moreover, the propulsion system, which plays a critical role in moving the spacecraft, needed extensive improvements to increase its efficiency. ISRO is also working on developing its own thermal imager and a spectrometer to confirm the presence of water molecules on the surface.

Technology: Chandrayaan-3

ISRO has developed the lander and rover in-house, and both will receive updates before being utilized for Chandrayaan-3. The lander and rover will have several enhanced sensors and onboard systems to improve their accuracy, energy efficiency, and robustness. The propulsion system, which operates from the rocket launch stage to lunar orbit insertion, is a combination of high thrust liquid engines and bipropellant thrusters. Also, the spacecraft will have advanced computer systems, which will handle mission operations with ease.

Components: Chandrayaan-3:

Chandrayaan-3 consists of various components: The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III, the Orbiter module, Lander module, and Rover module. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III is a powerful rocket that launches the spacecraft from the earth into the lunar orbit. The Orbiter module is responsible for the orbit monitoring and data transmission between the lander-rover and earth. The Lander module carries the rover to the lunar surface and also collects data from the surface. The Rover is an autonomous robotic vehicle that roams on the lunar surface to conduct experiments.

Planning, Designing, Assembly, Launching and reaching the moon

Planning:

ISRO scientists started planning for Chandrayaan-3 after the partial success of Chandrayaan-2. Scientists spent a considerable time period, looking into the preliminary mission specifications, validating them, outlining the limitations, and discussing potential corrective measures to counter possible technical problems. During the planning phase, the scientists also finalized the roadmap for the spacecraft's development, its objectives, and the technologies that will be used in the mission.

Designing:

This was the second phase of the mission. After finalizing the preliminary planning, the focus shifted to designing the spacecraft structure and its subsystems. This includes developing several components, including the Rover, the Lander, and the Orbiter module, along with various sensors and data processing equipment needed for data analysis. At this stage, the team devised a tentative blueprint for the spacecraft and started testing the critical subsystems' performance and efficiency.

Assembly:

Once the subsystems became functional, the spacecraft's assembly phase begins. The team integrated the various subsystems to create the entire spacecraft, keeping in mind all the parameters of the mission. The team also tested and monitored the subsystems to ensure they were working as per the specifications. Finally, they installed the scientific equipment, batteries, laser camera, sensors and other final details for the spacecraft's smooth functioning in space.

Launching and reaching the Moon:

Once assembly was complete, the spacecraft was tested thoroughly to verify its performance, and then, during the launch phase, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III carried it towards the lunar orbit. Chandrayaan-3 consists of the Orbiter, Lander, and Rover module, and each subsystem has a specific role to play during the mission. After reaching the moon's orbit, the Landar and Rover module will detach from the Orbiter, and, guided by the LOI (Lunar Orbit Insertion) engine, they will detach it from the orbiter, and the Landar will land on the designated spot of the lunar surface. The Rover module will exit the lander and start to conduct experiments and collect rich scientific data to enable us to understand our nearest neighbour better.

Funding: Chandrayaan-3

India's upcoming Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, is budgeted at Rs. 615 crores, and it is way cheaper than its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, which was launched with a budget of Rs. 960 crores. This time, instead of developing a new lander and rover, ISRO is planning on reusing the lander and rover structure from Chandrayaan-2 that wasn't utilized. The cost-cutting measures will allow ISRO to perform more pilot missions with the same funds and make it possible to achieve a successful landing.

Core Team: Chandrayaan-3

ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 core team consists of a group of veteran scientists and engineers who have extensive experience in Spacecraft technology and data analysis

S Somanath: ISRO carried out the ambitious Chandrayaan-3 under the leadership of its chairman S Somanath. An Indian aerospace engineer, he took over as chairperson of the space agency in 2022.

P Veeramuthuvel is the project director of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Veeramuthuvel was previously the deputy director of the Space Infrastructure Programme Office at ISRO headquarters.

S Unnikrishnan Nair is the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). He is the founding director of the Human Space Flight Centre in Bangalore. As per the VSSC website, Nair has contributed to developing various aerospace systems and mechanisms for Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3).

A Rajarajan: Chairman of the Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) which approves the launch. Currently, Rajarajan is serving as the director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Srihari Kota.

Chayan Dutta  supervised the launch control operations of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. He is currently working as Scientist/Engineer-G at UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Department of Space.

S Mohana Kumar is the mission director of the third moon mission, while Biju C Thomas is the Vehicle/Rocket director

"There are about 54 female engineers/scientists who worked directly in the Chandrayaan-3 mission. They are associate and deputy project directors and project managers of various systems working at different centres," a senior ISRO official told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

They work in coordination with other specialists and scientists from different field groups and provide extensive data-based analysis and recommendations about the spacecraft's functioning and performance.

 Conclusion:

The planned Chandrayaan-3 mission marks another significant step in India's ambitious space exploration program. The new spacecraft will resume the effort to explore the moon's south pole to collect scientific data with a modified structure of lander, rover and establish India's capability to land such vehicles on the lunar surface. It is a giant leap as India continues its scientific adventure to learn more about the space and makes an impact in the global space arena in its own way. This will be an interesting mission to watch, as India continues its journey towards harnessing the power of space exploration.