India's space agency, ISRO, has achieved a major milestone in lunar exploration with the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's Vikram lander on the Moon's south pole.
Historic Landing
In a historic moment on August 23 at 12:33 P.M. UTC, Vikram, the robotic lander of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, made a soft touchdown on the lunar surface near the south pole.
This accomplishment marks India's entry into an elite group of spacefaring nations, including Russia the United States, and China, that have achieved successful lunar landings.
HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE#Chandrayaan3's successful landing means that India is now the 4th country to soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon, and we are now the ONLY country to land successfully near the south pole of the Moon! 🇮🇳🌖 #ISRO pic.twitter.com/1D8Bdo4r8F
— ISRO Spaceflight (@ISROSpaceflight) August 23, 2023
India's landing places it in a league of its own as it is the first one to successfully reach the other side of the moon - just a day after Russia's Luna-25, with the same mission, crashed on the lunar surface.
The significance of Chandrayaan-3's landing near the Moon's south pole cannot be overstated. This region offers a unique geological landscape and holds the promise of valuable resources, particularly water ice.
Learning from Failure
The success of Chandrayaan-3 is a testament to ISRO's dedication to learning from past failures.
Engadget tells us that the mission's design incorporated a "failure-based design" approach, drawing lessons from the Chandrayaan-2 mission's Vikram lander crash in 2019.
To ensure a safe and successful landing this time, ISRO engineers incorporated numerous system backups and safeguards into the spacecraft.
One of the critical improvements was the enhancement of the guidance, navigation, and control system.
This upgrade enabled Vikram to correct deviations from its intended trajectory more effectively, minimizing the risk of veering off course.
Additionally, Chandrayaan-3 carried more fuel to allow for more precise control during descent.
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Autonomous Descent, Precision Landing
The lunar descent of Chandrayaan-3 was a highly complex and fully autonomous operation.
Due to the time delay in sending signals between the Earth and the Moon, ISRO engineers had to rely on Vikram's onboard systems to orchestrate its descent.
The descent involved multiple phases, each requiring careful coordination of engines and sensors to ensure a safe landing.
Chandrayaan-3's descent was divided into four phases: rough braking, attitude hold, fine braking, and terminal descent. During the rough braking phase, Vikram's engines fired to reduce its velocity significantly.
"The touchdown was smooth; the vertical velocity was notably less than even the nominal upper bound of 2 meters per second," ISRO chief S. Somanath tells the press.
What's Next?
The success of Chandrayaan-3 holds promising implications for both India's future lunar missions and global lunar exploration efforts.
The data collected by the lander and its Pragyaan rover will contribute to a deeper understanding of the Moon's atmosphere, surface, and tectonic activity.
Furthermore, the discovery of water ice in the South Pole region could have far-reaching implications for future lunar missions.
According to Scientific American, Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed close to the southern pole of the Moon just after sunrise in that area. This timing is important because it allows the mission to make the most of the time the Sun is up on the Moon.
The next step in Chandrayaan-3's mission will involve Vikram, the lander, turning on its four instruments and using a ramp to release the rover. The rover will then begin its exploration of the region on the Moon's surface that is rich in geological features.
Future Missions
India's success with Chandrayaan-3 opens doors for potential collaborations and future lunar missions. The signing of the Artemis Accords provides India with the opportunity to partner with the U.S. and other signatory nations to advance lunar exploration.
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