The Chandrayaan-3 mission was successfully launched on the afternoon of Friday, 14th July. After more than a month in orbit, the ship is set to touch down at the moon’s south pole on 23rd August. If the Chandrayaan’s landing is successful, a solar-powered rover weighing 60 pounds will be released to explore the lunar surface for two weeks.
If India were to do this, it would join an elite club that includes only the United States, Russia, and China. India’s lunar mission reflects the country’s rising space program. A million people watched the launch live on YouTube from Sriharikota island off India’s southeastern coast.
At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is now in France on official business, hailed the successful launch as a “new chapter in India’s space odyssey.” “It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian,” he wrote on Twitter. This monumental success is a reflection of the unwavering commitment of our scientists.
After India’s last attempt, Chandrayaan-2 crashed on the moon’s surface on 6th September 2019 due to what ISRO officials said was a thruster malfunction and software fault during the landing. The country has decided to try again with the $77 million Chandrayaan-3 mission.
With government funding for the space program dating back to the 1960s, India has long punched above its importance in space technology, despite its decades-long fight to shed its image as a lower-middle-income country.
India’s space program has always been a point of national pride, and the country has often played on its reputation as ambitious and inventive to get what it wants. NASA has always appreciated the efforts made by Indian scientists.
America’s And NASA’s Reaction To Chandrayan 3’s Successful Launch
NASA congratulates ISRO on this commendable success by tweeting after the launch. NASA’s Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated ISRO and offered best wishes for a successful mission to the Moon. The scientific findings from the mission, especially those from NASA’s laser retroreflector array, are eagerly anticipated.
ISRO’s competition with China’s Space Organization is heating up. Therefore the Biden administration has suggested more space cooperation with India. The White House announced in January that NASA would begin educating Indian astronauts at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston.
It breaks from India’s long-standing practice of sending its crews to Russia for such instruction, encouraging increased collaboration between American businesses and India’s burgeoning commercial space industry. An upgraded Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite developed jointly by NASA and ISRO will be launched by an Indian rocket in early 2024.
During a speech at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum on 13th July, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti expressed optimism about India’s upcoming soft landing on the moon with the launch of Chandrayaan 3. The trust between the United States and India boils down to a single word.
FAQs Related to Chandrayaan 3 Mission
Compared to the four days it took the Apollo spacecraft to reach the moon fifty years ago, why does it take Chandrayaan-3 a month to get there?
To launch a rocket to the moon, its size has to be massive. The rocket must have a lot of fuel to travel 384,400 kilometers. Since the rocket’s weight will increase after adding fuel, the rocket’s thrust will increase accordingly. The Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo 11 in 1969 was 363 feet tall. The LVM-3 stands at an impressive 142 feet. The Chandrayaan-3’s rapid arrival at the moon is optional. For this reason, it follows a path that uses Earth’s gravity to propel it toward the moon.
How does the lunar lander touch down?
The lander ‘falls’ to the lunar surface. However, four engines (thrusters) will propel it upward and decelerate its descent. Just before landing, it will be moving at a pace of 2 meters per second, according to estimates.
What will happen next when the lander finally makes it to the lunar surface?
The lander will check on everything after a gentle landing. Then, the guide rails will figuratively slide out of a trap door-like opening under the lander. The lunar rover will travel on tracks to the lunar surface.
What is the role of the rover?
The rover’s wheels allow it to move over the moon’s surface like a cockroach, collecting dirt for testing and punching a probe into the surface a foot deep to measure thermal conductivity. The lander’s instruments will also conduct tests.
Do the lander and rover make a final descent to Earth?
No. The lander, the rover, and the propulsion module will remain in orbit indefinitely unless an explorer from Earth decides to land on the moon and bring them back as trinkets.
What is the point of sending humans to the moon?
Even after the US Apollo flights, humanity mostly forgot about the moon for decades. But now that the presence of ice in the moon’s southern polar zone has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, there is fresh enthusiasm. Since ice is made up of water and hydrogen and oxygen can be extracted from water, ice is a great resource for rocket fuels. It opens the door to the possibility of future space missions involving rockets constructed and fuelled entirely on the moon. Launching deep space missions from the moon is more accessible and cheaper due to the moon’s low gravity.
