A milestone in India's space ventures : Chandrayaan 3

14th July 2023 will always be etched in golden letters as far as India’s space sector is concerned. Chandrayaan-3, our third lunar mission, will embark on its journey by The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

All eyes on ISRO as country eagerly awaits launch of Chandrayaan 3 . Massive crowds gathered at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh to witness the hsitoric launch of Chandrayaan 3 to witness the historic day which marks a milestone in India's space ventures. This remarkable mission will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation.

It is India's third Moon mission. The Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions have obviously been extra-special. They signal the coming of age of India’s space programme, a shift in strategy, and a stepping stone to much bigger things in space travel and exploration.

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It consists of Lander and Rover configuration. ISRO is crossing new frontiers by demonstrating soft-landing on the lunar surface by its lunar module and demonstrating roving on the lunar terrain, the space agency said.

This mission follows Chandrayaan-2, which failed a desired soft landing on the lunar surface in September 2019. Chandrayaan-3 will journey for over a month before landing on the Moon in late August.

According to scientists, around 16 minutes after lift-off, propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit, is expected to get separated from the rocket and would orbit the earth for about 5-6 times in an elliptical cycle with 170 km closest and 36,500 km farthest from earth moving towards the lunar orbit.

The propulsion module has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and Polari metric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.

ISRO itself seemed focussed on utilitarian objectives — enabling telecommunications, telemedicine and tele-education, broadcasting, or setting up remote sensing satellites. Space and planetary exploration was nowhere in priority.

Expert says, the "real tension" will be when Chandrayaan-3 attempts to soft land on the Moon on August 23 or 24. "I don't find any problem with the Chandrayaan-3 mission in the sense that today's launch is like any other GSLV.

This extraordinary endeavour carries the aspirations and dreams of 1.4 billion Indians. The launch of the lunar mission "a proud moment" for the country and every citizen of the country is proud of this remarkable achievement of ISRO.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA