ISRO gears up for third lunar mission as India eyes to achieve rare feat

Four years after it broke many hearts ISROs Chandrayaan is all set to soar towards the moon in its third expedition on Friday in an attempt to put the country in an elite club of nations that accomplished lunar missions with a soft landingFat boy LVM3M4 rocket will carry Chandrayaan3 as part of the countrys ambitious moon mission as the Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up for the hugely anticipated launch from this spaceport on July 14 The soft landing on moons surface is planned for late AugustChandrayaan2 failed to achieve the desired soft landing on the moon surface in 2019 leaving the ISRO team dejected Images of an emotional then ISRO chief K Sivan being consoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was here to achieve the rare feat remains vivid in the memory of manyScientists at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre after investing many hours of hardwork now aim at mastering the technology of softlanding on the surface of the moon A success would make India only the fourth country to achieve the feat after the United States China and the former Soviet UnionChandrayaan3 is the third lunar exploration mission ready for take off in the fourth operational mission M4 of LVM3 launcher ISRO is crossing new frontiers by demonstrating softlanding on the lunar surface by its lunar module and demonstrating roving on the lunar terrain the space agency saidThe mission is expected to be supportive to future interplanetary missionsChandrayaan3 mission consists of an indigenous propulsion module lander module and a rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for interplanetary missionsWith the 435 metre tall rocket scheduled for the lift off from the second launch pad at prefixed time at 235 pm on July 14 the countdown for the launch is expected to begin on ThursdayThe largest and heaviest LVM3 rocket formerly GSLV MkIII fondly called as fat boy by ISRO scientists for its heavylift capability has completed six consecutive successful missionsThe LVM3 rocket is a composite of three modules propulsion lander and rover which is housed inside the landerFridays mission is the fourth operational flight of LVM3 which aims to launch the Chandrayaan3 spacecraft into a Geo Transfer OrbitThe LVM3 vehicle has proved its versatility to undertake most complex missions including injecting multisatellites interplanetary missions among others It is also the largest and heaviest launch vehicle ferrying Indian and International customer satellites ISRO saidThe reason to fix the launch window during the month of July similar to Chandrayaan2 mission July 22 2019 is because the earth and moon would be closer to each other during this part of the yearFridays mission follows Chandrayaan2 where scientists aim to demonstrate various capabilities including reaching the orbit of the moon making a softlanding on the lunar surface using a lander and a rover coming out of the lander to study the surface of the moonIn the Chandrayaan2 mission the lander instead of making a soft landing crashed on the surface leading to an unsuccessful attempt by ISROHowever this time scientists have left no stone unturned in an effort to ensure smiles in August when the landing is plannedAs the days neared for the launch the Satish Dhawan Space Centre was bustling with activity as the launch vehicle was integrated into the launch mission complex at the second launch pad recentlyOn Tuesday the launch rehearsal simulating the entire launch preparation and process that lasted for over 24 hours concluded at SriharikotaAccording to scientists after the liftoff at 235 pm on Friday around 16 minutes after liftoff propulsion module is expected to get separated from the rocket and would orbit the earth for about 56 times in an elliptical cycle with 170 km closest and 36500 km farthest from earth moving towards the lunar orbitThe propulsion module along with the lander after gaining speed would proceed for an over a month long journey towards reaching the orbit of the moon until it goes 100 km above the lunar surfaceAfter reaching the desired position the lander module would begin its descent for a soft landing on the south pole region of the moon and this action is expected to take place on August 23 or 24 scientists at ISRO saidThe moons south pole region has been chosen because the Lunar South Pole remains much larger than that at the North pole There could be a possibility of presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around itThe significance aboutChandrayaan3 mission unlike its unsuccessful predecessor is that the Propulsion Module has a payload SHAPE Spectro polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth which is to study earth from lunar orbitISRO said the SHAPE is an experimental payload to study the spectropolarimetric signatures of the Earth in the nearinfrared wavelength rangeApart from the SHAPE payload the Propulsion Modules main function is to carry the Lander Module from launch vehicle injection orbit to till lander separationThe lander module after landing on the surface of the moon has payloads including RAMBHALP which is to measure the near surface plasma ions and electrons density and its changes ChaSTE Chandras Surface Thermo Physical Experiment to carry out the measurements of thermal properties of lunar surface near polar region and ILSA Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity to measure seismicity around the landing site and delineating the structure of the lunar crust and mantleThe Rover after the softlanding would come out of the lander module and study the surface of the moon through its payloads APXS Alpha Particle XRay Spectrometer to derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of lunar surfaceRover which has a mission life of 1 lunar day 14 Earth days also has another payload Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope LIBS to determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site ISRO saidThis story 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