After an attempt to send a probe to the Moon in 2019, India's space program succeeded in sending a lunar probe in the new area that can have water and ice, the south pole of the Moon. lunar landing and the first to reach the South Pole. Understand the details.
Landing of Chandrayaan-3 at the lunar south pole
According to information from Indian Space Research Organization (Indian Space Research Organization ou ISRO), the ship Chandrayaan-3 made a landing near the lunar south pole on August 23 at 09:33 am (Brasília time). A India joins three other countries that managed to land on Earth's natural satellite, which are: the United States, the former Soviet Union and China. India was the first to reach the South Pole of the Moon.
This success belongs to all mankind and will help the lunar missions of other countries in the future. I am confident that all countries in the world, including those in the global south, are capable of achieving success. We can all aspire to the moon and beyond
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi
The spacecraft sent by the Asian country is just the beginning of an important exploration: in the coming days of August, a space vehicle powered by solar energy should leave the landing module Vikram da Chandrayaan-3. Together, the two items will conduct explorations in the lunar soil to capture scientific data for 14 days, equivalent to one lunar day. This is the estimated battery time, as sunset follows right away.
The whole country is excited about this mission. We all hope to succeed in bringing new science from this mission.
Anil Bhardwaj, director of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in India, which built some of the instruments aboard Chandrayaan-3.
ISRO's success after 4 years
The successful landing of the new spacecraft is being even more celebrated because, in fact, the Asian country was supposed to reach Earth's natural satellite in 2019. Four years ago, the spacecraft Chandrayaan-2 was sent to the Moon, but a software problem caused it to collide with the surface and the studies had to be redone.
Now in 2023, the space agency of India confirms that it performed several design and software updates before making a new flight. Despite the problem, Chandrayaan-2 started to be used as a critical communicator in case of any problems with the 2023 spacecraft. And the 2019 spacecraft is also sending pictures of the Moon to the ISRO, which allowed scientists to have more information about the possible landing site. The area was chosen because it doesn't have many obstacles, he says. Anil Bhardwaj.
A Chandrayaan-3 was launched atop an LVM3 rocket on July 14 from a spaceport in Sriharikota on India's east coast. It took several maneuvers for a circular path to be changed, located 150 kilometers from the lunar surface. See the schedule so far:
- Part 1: On August 17, 2023, the module and rover separated from the propulsion module to begin research. They successfully braked on the 18th of August and on the 20th, managed to approach the lunar surface.
- Step 2 —: still in orbit, the 21st and 22nd of August were marked by the success in establishing contact with the communicator Chandrayaan-2.
- Step 3 —: as soon as the Sun was seen at the landing site chosen by the scientists, the automatic landing system was activated and the first stage of the mission was completed at 09:34 am Brasília time on August 23rd.
A ISRO confirms that the chosen location is close to where Russia had hoped to land its first lunar mission in 47 years, Luna-25. This feat was unsuccessful because on August 21, 2023, the Russian probe fell on the Moon due to a wrong orbital maneuver.
India's success today can be attributed to "extensive changes" to its landing strategy following the crash of Chandrayaan-2 in 2019. The onboard algorithms that calculate the spacecraft's speed in real time during descent have been reworked to allow for "more freedom to deviate” from the protocol “but still make the landing.
Anil Bhardwaj, director of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in India.
What comes next?
With the lander Vikram on the moon, the car pragyan will start walking around the surface to analyze the moon's soil and rocks. The great purpose is to know if the lunar south pole really has enough traces of water and ice to be a source of fuel for rockets and spacecraft. And possible data for human habitation on the Moon should also be collected.
This India relaunch was originally scheduled for 2021, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to 2023. The mission budget is estimated at US$75 million. Do you believe that India can become a great power in space exploration? Tell us us Comment!
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With information: Space l CNBC
reviewed by Glaucon Vital in 23 / 8 / 23.
