India’s Chandrayaan-3 Spacecraft Achieved a Historic Moon Landing on August 23, 2023, marking India as the fourth nation to accomplish a gentle lunar touchdown. This achievement follows an earlier unsuccessful endeavor in 2019 and closely trails Russia‘s own recent lunar mission setback. The spacecraft is now poised to release a rover for in-depth exploration of the Moon’s southern polar region, collecting valuable surface data. This triumphant mission stands as a remarkable milestone for India, bearing promising implications for its economy and technological advancement.
Realizing the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon’s surface on Wednesday, concluding its 41-day voyage. This endeavor stands as the pinnacle of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) most ambitious project to date.
This achievement has etched a significant moment in history for India, placing it alongside the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union (now Russia) as the fourth country to successfully execute the intricate feat of soft lunar landing.
In his congratulatory message to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, “India has become the pioneer in reaching the lunar south pole, a historic feat.”
After a previous Indian lunar mission faced setbacks in 2019, this recent achievement comes shortly after Russia’s own lunar expedition, which sadly concluded in a crash within the same lunar vicinity, marking their first Moon mission in nearly fifty years.
In September 2019, a poignant moment unfolded as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced K Sivan, the former head of the Indian Space Research Organisation. The touching scene occurred as the scientist, overcome with emotion, could not contain his tears. This event transpired following the space agency’s loss of communication with the Chandrayaan 2 lander ‘Vikram’ precisely as its descent to the lunar surface commenced.
Nevertheless, emerging from the solemnity and hushed atmosphere of ISRO’s control center was an unwavering resolve to rebound and ascend once more.
K. Sivan, the former leader of India’s space program, found solace in the recent images relayed by the lander, injecting assurance into the prospective triumph of the mission’s conclusive phase.
“It’s providing a glimmer of hope that we can accomplish the landing mission smoothly,” he remarked, as reported by AFP.
Initiated almost six weeks ago amid the enthusiastic applause of countless onlookers, the expedition to the Moon underpins a notable departure from the rapid transits of the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, which expedited their lunar arrival within mere days.
Diverging from the more powerful rockets harnessed by the United States during that period, India’s strategy incorporated a sequence of Earth orbits to accumulate momentum before embarking on its month-long course towards the Moon.
“The nerve-wracking 15 minutes of uncertainty”
During a vital technical maneuver carried out on August 23rd, the Chandrayaan-3 lander encountered a decisive juncture in its quest for a gentle lunar touchdown. In the concluding 15 minutes of its descent towards the lunar terrain, the lander underwent a critical transition from a high-velocity horizontal alignment to a vertical orientation.
The triumph of this intricate maneuver held the key to shaping the mission’s ultimate result. Former ISRO head Sivan had previously characterized this phase as the “15 minutes of nerve-wracking suspense.”
On August 21, 2023, former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair characterized the forthcoming Moon landing in the Chandrayaan-3 mission as an intricately challenging task.
Explaining the scenario, he commented, “The process is complex and involves multiple aspects.” We narrowly missed achieving a soft lunar landing in the final two kilometers of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. Numerous components must harmonize seamlessly—thrusters, sensors, altimeters, computer software, and various other elements. Any disruption in any of these aspects could potentially lead to complications.”
“We must exercise extreme caution and vigilance. While I acknowledge that ISRO has extensively simulated and integrated redundancies to minimize the likelihood of such failures, it remains important for us to maintain a sense of anticipation,” he went on to explain.
What Comes Next?
Following the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3, the immediate plan involves deploying a rover onto the Moon’s surface to commence exploration of the lunar south pole. As the rover embarks on its journey, it will leave its mark by imprinting the Indian flag and the ISRO logo on the lunar regolith, or soil. Equipped with specialized instruments and payloads, the rover is poised to furnish vital information concerning the Moon’s terrain.
The rover’s objectives encompass collecting data pertaining to the elemental constitution of the Moon’s atmosphere and transmitting this information to the lander. The lander, in turn, will conduct measurements of plasma density in the vicinity, encompassing ions and electrons. It will also engage in assessments of the thermal characteristics of the lunar surface, examine seismic activity around the landing area, and chart the structure of the lunar crust and mantle.
This comprehensive research endeavor is anticipated to span a period of two weeks, during which the lander and rover will meticulously undertake their observations. As a backup measure for communication, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter can be employed as a relay between the rover and the National Space Agency due to the absence of direct communication channels.
