India becomes a major player in Space Technology
Chandrayaan-3’s Landing; an incredible milestone!
Omkar Dattatray
India today made a history when ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the surface of the moon and thus entered the elite club of the world. Thus India made a great milestone today and India became a major player in space technology. Today tricolor will be on moon and it is a moment of pride and satisfaction for the scientists, technologist and at large for the common Indian .India will the only and first country in globe which will have the distinction of landing Chandrayaan-3 on the north pole of the surface of the moon .
According to MOS, PMO Dr Jitender Singh Chandrayaan mission propelled Indian into a global player in the space technology. The Chandrayaan mission undertaken by Indian space organization –ISRO has placed India as a leading global player as far as space technology is concerned .The ISRO on 14th July successfully launched its third edition of Moon exploration programme from Satish Dawan Space centre, Sriharkota, aimed at making a soft landing on the unexplored south pole of the moon.
Even though we started our space journey much later than the other countries, those who landed before us could not procure those findings which were obtained by Chandraayn missions. The Chandrayaan mission 3 is going to extend those experiments which hint at the possibility of human habitat on moon may be at future .Therefore Chandrayaan 3 is of special importance because it will help in exploration of the human life at the moon at a future date and so this space mission is having a great significance .With the launch of Chandrayaan -3 on July 14 ,the ISRO is set to make its second attempt to land a spacecraft on the Moon. Earlier in 2019,due to problems that had emerged during the last stage of the descent ,Chandrayaan-2 ‘s lander and rover crashed on the moon’s surface .
The successful mission of Chandraayan -3 will result in significant explorations about the possibility of human life on the surface of moon and this will not be an ordinary scientific and space exploration development .The significance of the Chandrayaan-3 mission ,unlike its unsuccessful predecessor ,is that the propulsion Module has a payload – SHAPE –Spectro -polarimetry of Habitable Planet earth to study Earth from lunar orbit .The Chandrayaan-3 mission by the Indian Space Research Organization took off from the Satish Dawan Space Centre in Sriharkota, Andhra Pradesh and it landed successfully on the surface of moon is really a significant thing and development .
The mission follows Chandrayaan-2 where scientists aim to demonstrate various capabilities including reaching the orbit of the moon ,making soft landing on lunar surface which it did using a lender and a rover coming out of the lander to study the surface of the moon .According to scientists ,after the lift –off at 2.35 pm on Friday ,around 16 minutes after the lift-off ,the propulsion module is expected to get separated from the rocket and would orbit the earth for about 5-6 times in an elliptical cycle with 170 km closest and 36,500 km farthest from earth moving towards the lunar orbit .ISRO Scientists have tentatively scheduled a soft landing on the lunar surface expected to take place by August 23-24 making India join elite nations to achieve the feat.
Chandrayaan-3 ‘s development phase commenced in January 2020 with plans to launch it somewhere in 2021 ,but the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays in the development process. Then Prime minister A.B.Vajpayee announced the Chandrayaan program in 2003 .ISRO said the SHAPE is an experimental payload to study the spectro –polarimetric signatures of the Earth in the near – infrared wavelength range .Apart from the SHAPE payload ,the Propulsion Module’s main function is to carry the Lander Module from launch vehicle injection orbit to lander separation .Chandrayaan -3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end –to –end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface .
It consists of Lander and Rover configuration .It has been launched by LVM3 from SDSC SHAR ,Sriharkota .The propulsion module carried the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit .The propulsion module has Spectro –polarimetry of the Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit .The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are –1-To demonstrate safe and soft landing on Lunar Surface.2- To demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and 3- To conduct in-situ scientific experiments .
To attain the mission objectives ,several advanced technologies are present in Lander such as –1- Altimeters –Laser & RF based Atimeters.2- Velcoimeters –Laser Doppler Velocimeter & Lander Horizontal Velocity Cameras.3—Inertial Measurements –;Laser Gyro based Inertial referencing and Accelerometer package.4-Propulsion system—800NThrottleable Liquid Engine ,SBN attitude thrusters & Throttleable Engine Control Electronics.5-Navigation,Guidence & Control –NGC Powered Descent Trajectory design and associate software elements .6—Hazaed Detection & Avoidance Camera and Processing Algorithm 7-Lander Leg Mechanism .
To demonstrate the above said advanced technologies in earth condition ,several Lander special tests have been planned and carried out successfully .Chandrayaan -3 is the third exploration mission by ISRO .It consists of a lander and the Pragyan rover similar to Chandrayaan -2 ,but does not have an orbiter .Its propulsion module behaves like a communication relay satellite .The propulsion module carries the lander and rover configuration until the spacecraft is in a 100 km lunar orbit .In short the Chandrayaan mission 3 is launched for exploration of the human habitat in surface of moon at a future time and thus this spacecraft will revolutionize the space exploration and it has given a place to India in the elite club of those countries which are privileged to have undertaken moon explorations in past .Chandrayaan missions propelled India into a global player in space technology .
ISRO has launched the Chandrayan -3 spacecraft in an effort to perform a soft landing on moon .The spacecraft is now prepared for its August 23luner landing .India is now on course to join united States ,Russia ,and China as the fourth country in the world to reach this incredible milestone .The GSLV Mark 3(LVM-3) heavy –lift launch vehicle was used to successfully launch the mission on July 14 from Satish Dawan space centre in Srihharikota ,Andhra Pradesh .By August 23 ,it would land on the surface of moon .It is the third lunar trip for India and its second attempt at a gentle landing on the surface.Chandrayan-3 has completed five orbit reduction maneuvers and is preparing for the most important operation of the day ,which has happened on 17th August .
This is the moment when Chandrayaan-3 will cement India’s place in the world .The Satish Dhawan Space Centre served as the launch platform for Chandraayan-3 .On August 23 and 24 ,India’s ambitious Chandraayan-3 third Moon mission successfully landed close to the Moon’s under explored south pole .The successful landing of Chandraayan-3 on lunar surface will not only provide important new information on the makeup and past of the Moon ,but it will also firmly establish India’s place among elite group of nations that have successfully conducted controlled lunar Landings. This historical occasion which the whole world is eagerly awaiting ,promises to deepen our knowledge of the Moon and further India’s space research efforts.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)
