It will take about 33 days from launch to reach lunar orbit.
4th August, New Delhi: The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which was successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14, has travelled almost two-thirds of the trip to the Moon.
“The spacecraft has travelled roughly two-thirds of the way to the moon.” “LOI set for Aug 5, 2023, around 19:00 Hrs. IST,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) tweeted Friday.
Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission, will make India the fourth nation after the United States, China, and Russia to land a spacecraft on the moon’s surface and show the country’s capability for safe and gentle landings.
On July 14, 2023, at 14:35 IST, the spacecraft was successfully launched on LVM-3. The spacecraft is now conducting orbit manoeuvres with the goal of reaching the moon’s orbit.
Chandrayaan-3 will take about 33 days from launch to reach the moon’s orbit. It will function for one lunar day, or around 14 Earth days, after landing. One day on the Moon is equivalent to fourteen days on Earth.
Navigation sensors, propulsion systems, guidance and control, and other electrical and mechanical subsystems are among the Chandrayaan-3 components that assure a safe and smooth landing. There are other mechanisms for Rover release, two-way communication antennae, and other onboard electronics.
The declared goals of Chandrayaan-3 include a safe and gentle landing, wandering on the moon’s surface, and conducting in-situ scientific investigations.
The authorised cost of Chandrayaan-3 is Rs. 250 crores (without the cost of the launch vehicle).
The development phase of Chandrayaan-3 began in January 2020, with the launch scheduled for 2021. However, the Covid-19 epidemic caused an unanticipated delay in the mission’s development. The ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 project is the follow-up to the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which had difficulties during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was ultimately considered to have failed its key mission goals.
The first-ever worldwide map of lunar sodium, improved understanding of crater size distribution, unequivocal discovery of lunar surface water ice with the IIRS instrument, and more are among the significant scientific findings of Chandrayaan-2. Almost 50 publications have covered the expedition.
The Moon is a storehouse of Earth’s history, and a successful lunar mission by India will help to improve life on Earth while also allowing it to explore the rest of the solar system and beyond.
