Chandrayaan 3
Chandrayaan 3
Chandrayaan 3
Ghodegaon
Name – Kale Shivani Navanath
Std – 10Th
Div- Jasmine
Roll No - 15
Sub – Defence
Chandrayaan-2
On 12 November 2007, representatives of the Roscosmos and ISRO signed
an agreement for the two agencies to work together on the Chandrayaan-1's follow-
up project, Chandrayaan-2.[16][17] ISRO would have the prime responsibility for the
orbiter, rover and the launch by GSLV, while Roscosmos was to provide the lander.
[18]
The Indian government approved the mission in a meeting of the Union Cabinet,
held on 18 September 2008 and chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[19] The
design of the spacecraft was completed in August 2009, with scientists of both
countries conducting a joint review.[20]
Although ISRO finalised the payload for Chandrayaan-2 on schedule, [21] the
mission was postponed in January 2013 and rescheduled to 2016 because Russia
was unable to develop the lander on time.[22][23][24] In 2012, there was a delay in the
construction of the Russian lander for Chandrayaan-2 due of the failure of
the Fobos-Grunt mission to Mars, since the technical issues connected with the
Fobos-Grunt mission which were also used in the lunar projects including the lander
for Chandrayaan-2 needed to be reviewed.[23] The changes proposed by Roscosmos
necessitated increase in lander mass and required ISRO to decrease mass of its
rover and accept some reliability risk.[25][18] When Russia cited its inability to provide
the lander even by a revised time-frame of 2015 due to technical and financial
reasons, India decided to develop the lunar mission independently.[22][26] With new
mission timeline for Chandrayaan-2 and an opportunity for a Mars mission arising
with launch window in 2013, unused Chandrayaan-2 orbiter hardware was
repurposed to be used for Mars Orbiter Mission.[27]
Chandrayaan-2 launch had been scheduled for March 2018 initially, but was first
delayed to April and then to October 2018 to conduct further tests on the vehicle. [28]
[29]
On 19 June 2018, after the program's fourth Comprehensive Technical Review
meeting, a number of changes in configuration[30] and landing sequence[31] were
planned for implementation which increased the gross lift-off mass of spacecraft from
3,250 kg to 3,850 kg.[32] Initially an uprated GSLV Mk II[33][34] was the chosen launch
vehicle for Chandrayaan-2 but this increased spacecraft mass and issues with
launch vehicle upratement[35] forced the launch vehicle to be switched to more
capable LVM3.[30] Issues with engine throttling were found during testing[36] pushing
the launch to the early 2019[37] and later two of the lander's legs received minor
damage during one of the tests in February 2019 delaying the launch even further.[38]
[39]
Chandrayaan-2 launch was scheduled for 14 July 2019, 21:21 UTC (15 July 2019
at 02:51 IST local time), with the landing expected on 6 September 2019.
[40]
However, the launch was aborted due to a technical glitch and was rescheduled.[9]
[41][42]
The launch occurred on 22 July 2019 at 09:13:12 UTC (14:43:12 IST) on the
first operational flight of a GSLV MK III M1.[43]
On 6 September 2019, the lander during its landing phase, deviated from its
intended trajectory starting at 2.1 km (1.3 mi) altitude,[44] and had lost communication
when touchdown confirmation was expected.[45][46] Initial reports suggesting a
crash [47][48] were confirmed by ISRO chairman K. Sivan, stating that "it must have
been a hard landing".[49] The Failure Analysis Committee concluded that the crash
was caused by a software glitch.[50] Unlike ISRO's previous record, the report of the
Failure Analysis Committee has not been made public.[51]
Chandrayaan-2 orbiter performed a collision avoidance manoeuvre at 14:52 UTC
on 18 October 2021 to avert possible conjunction with Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter. Both spacecraft were expected to come dangerously close to each other on
20 October 2021 at 05:45 UTC over the Lunar north pole.[52]
Objectives
The primary objectives of the Chandrayaan-2 lander were to illustrate the ability
to soft-land and operate a robotic rover on the lunar surface.
Design
The name Chandrayaan means "mooncraft" in Sanskrit and most other Indian
languages.[56][57] The mission was launched on a GSLV Mk III M1 with an
approximate lift-off mass of 3,850 kg (8,490 lb) from Satish Dhawan Space
Centre on Sriharikota Island of Andhra Pradesh.[3][11][14][31] As of June 2019, the
mission has an allocated cost of ₹ 9.78 billion (approximately US$141 million which
includes ₹ 6 billion for the space segment and ₹ 3.75 billion as launch costs on
GSLV Mk III M1.[58][59] Chandrayaan-2 stack was initially put in an Earth parking
orbit of 170 km (110 mi) perigee and 40,400 km (25,100 mi) apogee by the launch
vehicle.[60]
Orbiter
The lunar south pole region holds particular interest for scientific exploration.
Studies show large amounts of ice there. Mountainous terrain and unpredictable
lighting protect the ice from melting, but they also make landing scientific probes
there a challenging undertaking. The ice could contain solid-state compounds that
would normally melt under warmer conditions elsewhere on the Moon—compounds
which could provide insight into lunar, Earth, and Solar System history. For future
crewed missions and outposts, ice could also be a source of drinking water and of
hydrogen for fuel and oxygen.[19][20]
Objectives
ISRO's mission objectives for the Chandrayaan-3 mission are:
Spacecraft
Design[edit]
Chandrayaan-3 comprises three main components: a propulsion module, lander, and
rover.
Propulsion module[edit]
The propulsion module carried the lander and rover configuration to a 100-
kilometre (62 mi) lunar orbit. It was a box-like structure with a large solar panel
mounted on one side and a cylindrical mounting structure for the lander (the
Intermodular Adapter Cone) on top.[24][25]
A few months after the conclusion of the lander portion of the mission, ISRO
officials said that the propulsion module is equipped with two radioisotope heating
units (RHU) generating one watt designed and developed by BARC (Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre). RHUs keep the spacecraft at their operational temperatures by
the decay of radioactive material, leading to electricity generation to power heaters,
even with solar power or using battery power. It is to be thought that National
Security reasons delayed the disclosure to the media. Chandrayaan 3 project
director P Veeramuthuvel said ISRO may soon use nuclear resources to maintain
instruments in future rovers. ISRO officials later said the RHUs could not be installed
on Chandrayaan 3’s Vikram lander and Pragyan rover because it would have
increased their mass which unfortunately led them to have a maximum lifespan of
14 earth days or 1 lunar day.[26][27][28]