24th August 2023 (10 Topics)
1
Aug
2
Aug
3
Aug
4
Aug
5
Aug
7
Aug
8
Aug
9
Aug
10
Aug
11
Aug
12
Aug
14
Aug
15
Aug
16
Aug
17
Aug
18
Aug
19
Aug
21
Aug
22
Aug
23
Aug
24
Aug
25
Aug
26
Aug
28
Aug
29
Aug
30
Aug
31
Aug
Missions for Chandrayaan-3’s Lander
Context
After rolling down of Chandrayaan-3’s lander will begin its job of lunar exploration and will start collecting information operating for a single lunar day or equivalent 14 Earth days.
The Historic Landing:
- Chandrayaan-3 has landed around 70 degree south latitude, the closest that any spacecraft has reached to the lunar South Pole.
- The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft consists of three parts:
- Lander: The lander will be powered by four throttle-able engines and will feature a Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV).
- Rover: The rover will carry out chemical analysis of the lunar surface. Both the lander and the rover carry many scientific payloads for experiments on the lunar surface.
- Propulsion module: The propulsion module has one main function—to carry the lander and rover from “launch vehicle injection” to a 100-kilometre circular polar lunar orbit before it separates from the other modules.
Mission experiments:
- Experiments by the Lander: The lander has four experiments on board:
- The Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) will study the electrons and ions near the surface of the moon and how they change over time.
- The Chandra’s Surface Thermo physical Experiment (ChaSTE) will study the thermal properties of the lunar surface near the polar region.
- The Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) will measure the lunar quakes near the landing site and study the composition of the Moon’s crust and mantle.
- The LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA) is a passive experiment sent by NASA that acts as a target for lasers for very accurate measurements for future missions.
- Experiments by Rover: There are two scientific experiments on the rover:
- The LASER Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) will determine the chemical and mineral composition of the lunar surface.
- The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) will determine the composition of elements such as magnesium, aluminium, silicon, potassium, calcium, titanium, and iron in the lunar soil and rocks.
Expected outcomes:
- Discovery of water:
- The southern polar region of the Moon is known to have deep craters that remain in permanent darkness, with a high likelihood of having water-ice.
- India’s Moon Impact Probe (MIP) — a payload that was deliberately crashed on the lunar surface near the South Pole — helped study the concentration of water and hydroxyl molecules in the lunar atmosphere in Chandrayaan-1 mission.
- Buried lava tubes:
- The terrain mapping camera and hyper-spectral imager on board Chandrayaan-1 detected an underground lava tube, which, scientists believe, can provide a safe environment for human habitation in the future.
- It can protect against hazardous radiation, small meteoric impacts, extreme temperatures, and dust storms on the surface of the Moon.
- Magma ocean thesis:
- The Moon is believed to have been formed after an early piece of the Earth separated due to an impact.
- The energy generated by the impact is believed to have led to the melting of the Moon’s surface. This is called the magma ocean hypothesis.
- The M3 payload on board Chandrayaan-1 picked up a specific type of lighter-density crystals on the surface of the Moon, which could be found on the surface only if it were liquid once.
- Solar flares:
- The Solar X-Ray Monitor on the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter was able to observe many solar microflares outside the active region as well as the elemental abundance from the not-so-bright solar corona.
- Mapping of minerals:
-
- CLASS X-ray Fluorescence experiment has mapped about 95% of the lunar surface in X-rays for the first time.
More Articles
Courses
Study
Notes
Home
Resources
More
