Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) says Chandrayaan-3 reached the center of its 153×163 km final orbit around the moon, completing a series of maneuvers to lower the spacecraft’s orbit and speed, lander rover module will separate from the propulsion module that carried it to the moon, It’s time to get ready as the Propulsion Module and Lander prepare for separate journeys for August 23.
The propulsion module, on the other hand, will remain in this final orbit for nearly three to six months, studying spectro-polarimetric signatures of Earth from lunar orbit using Spectro-Polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE). The experiment is designed to study the spectral signatures of an inhabited planet Earth to aid in the search for exoplanets and signs of life on them.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14 and reached lunar orbit 11 days ago
The mission plans to do what its predecessor failed to do soft-land on the lunar surface near the south pole and skim the surface. Changes were made to the designs and specifications of the landing modules to ensure success. Instead of success-based design in Chandrayaan-2, we are doing failure-based design in Chandrayaan-3 – looking at what can go wrong and how to protect it
The lander has been given more maneuverability during descent, the mission allows for a larger 4 km x 2.4 km landing area, more sensors have been added, one of the thrusters has been removed, and the legs of the lander have been removed. made stronger to allow landing even at a slightly higher speed. More solar panels were also added to ensure the mission could continue even if the lander was not facing the sun.
More tests were conducted to find out the capability of the lander in different situations to make Chandrayaan-3 more durable
Chandrayaan-2 was the first time India developed a lander and a rover for one of its missions. Initially, the lander was supposed to develop Russia for the mission. But Russia backed off after the failure of its Phobos-Grunt mission on one of the moons of Mars, as similar technology was to be used. Lander for Chandrayaan-2 made an emergency landing just 2.1 km from the surface of the moon.
Explaining the reason for Chandrayaan-2’s failure on its final leg, Somanath had earlier said that the five engines on the lander developed slightly more thrust than expected. Since the programming on the lander didn’t allow for maneuvers during the camera’s coast down phase when it was essential to remain steady to click clear photos of the landing site errors piled up. When course corrections began, the spacecraft needed to turn very quickly, but its ability to turn was again limited by its software.
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