चंद्रयान-3 ने 5वीं बार बदली ऑर्बिट: अब 1 अगस्त को चांद की तरफ निकलेगा, 23 अगस्त को सतह पर उतरेगा लैंडर

ISRO scientists successfully completed the fifth and last orbit raising process of Chandrayaan-3 on Thursday. Chandrayaan is now in an orbit of 127609 km x 236 km. This means that Chandrayaan is moving in such an elliptical orbit, whose minimum distance from the Earth is 236 km and the maximum distance is 127609 km.

Earlier on July 20, the orbit was done 71351 Km x 233 Km. Now the spacecraft will leave Earth’s orbit and head towards the Moon through a sling shot at midnight of July 31 and August 1. Will reach the Moon’s orbit on the 5th. It will land on the moon on 23rd.

Chandrayaan-3 has Lander, Rover and Propulsion Module. The lander and rover will land on the Moon’s South Pole and conduct experiments there for 14 days. The propulsion module will study the radiation coming from the Earth by staying in the Moon’s orbit. Through the mission, ISRO will find out how earthquakes occur on the lunar surface. It will also study the lunar soil.

After separating from the propulsion module, the lander will land on the lunar surface on August 23 in this way.

Chandrayaan-3’s journey so far…

Now answers to 4 important questions related to Chandrayaan mission…

1. What will India gain from this mission?
Manish Purohit, ex-scientist of ISRO, says that through this mission, India wants to tell the world that it has the ability to do a soft landing on the moon and run the rover there. This will increase the world’s trust in India which will help in increasing commercial business. India has launched Chandrayaan from its Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle LVM3-M4. India has already shown the capability of this vehicle to the world.

In the past, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ company ‘Blue Origin’ had shown its interest in using ISRO’s LVM3 rocket. Blue Origin wants to use LVM3 for commercial and tourism purposes. Through LVM3, Blue Origin will take its crew capsule to the planned Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space station.

Manish Purohit, ex-scientist of ISRO, said that through this mission, India wants to tell the world that it has the capability of soft landing on the moon and running the rover there.

2. Why is the mission being sent to the South Pole only?
The polar regions of the Moon are quite different from other regions. There are many parts here where the sunlight never reaches and the temperature goes down to -200 degree Celsius. In such a situation, scientists estimate that there may still be water present in the form of ice. India’s 2008 Chandrayaan-1 mission indicated the presence of water on the Moon’s surface.

The landing site of this mission is the same as that of Chandrayaan-2. Near the South Pole of the Moon at 70 degree latitude. But this time the area has been increased. The landing site in Chandrayaan-2 was 500 meters X 500 metres. Now, the landing site is 4 km X 2.5 km.

If all goes well, Chandrayaan-3 will become the world’s first spacecraft to soft-land near the Moon’s south pole. All previous spacecraft to land on the Moon have landed in the equatorial region, a few degrees of latitude north or south of the lunar equator.

There are many parts on the South Pole of the Moon where sunlight never reaches and the temperature goes below -200 degree Celsius.

3. Why 4 engines instead of 5 in the lander this time?
This time the lander has four engines (thrusters) fitted at the four corners, but last time the fifth engine in the middle has been removed. Final landing will be done with the help of two engines only, so that two engines can work in case of emergency. The fifth engine was added at the last moment in the Chandrayaan 2 mission. The engine has been removed so that more fuel can be carried along.

4. Why will the mission be for 14 days only?
Manish Purohit told that there is night for 14 days and light for 14 days on the moon. When it is night here, the temperature drops below -100 degree Celsius. Chandrayaan’s lander and rover will generate power from their solar panels. That’s why they will generate power for 14 days, but the power generation process will stop at nightfall. If there is no power generation, the electronics will not be able to withstand the severe cold and will get damaged.

India will become the fourth country to do so
If there is success in soft landing i.e. the mission is successful, then after America, Russia and China, India will become the fourth country to do so. There were several spacecraft crashes before both the US and Russia successfully landed on the Moon. China is the only country to be successful in its first attempt with the Chang’e-3 mission in 2013.

Graphics: Kunal Sharma