Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module Makes Contact With Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter

On Monday, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which was already orbiting the moon, established a two-way connection with the lander module of Chandrayaan-3. This was a significant development.

“‘Welcome, pal!'” Chandrayaan-2 orbiter welcomed Chandrayaan-3 LM (lander module) in a formal ceremony. Two-way communication is established between the parties. MOX (Mission Operations Complex) now has additional paths to the LM,” ISRO announced on X, formerly Twitter.

Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 IST.

Live actions will be available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV from 17:27 IST on August 23, 2023.

Prior to the much-anticipated gentle landing of Chandrayaan-3 at the south pole of the Moon, K Sivan, former director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and leader of the previous lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-2’, stated on Monday that the mission will be a “huge success.”

“This is a very worrisome time…Sivan told ANI, “I am confident that this time it will be a tremendous success.”

“We have our own system and will achieve a gentle landing with no difficulty. In response to a query about whether the failure of Russia’s Luna-25 mission would have any repercussions, he stated, “But it is a complex procedure.” Sunday, Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft lost control and crashed into the moon, ending the country’s lunar mission.

After analyzing data generated by the Chandrayaan-2 mission, he stated that corrective measures have been implemented. When asked if these additional systems were indigenous as well, Sivan responded, “Everything is indigenous.”

ISRO published images of the lunar far side acquired by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC) earlier today. During the descent, this camera facilitates in locating a safe landing zone devoid of large rocks and deep ravines.

Notably, the ‘Vikram’ lander module of the spacecraft recently successfully separated from the propulsion module, and then undertook critical deboosting maneuvers and descended into a slightly lower orbit. The Chandrayaan-3 mission’s spacecraft is named for Vikram Sarabhai (1919–1971), widely regarded as the founder of the Indian space program.

On August 5, a GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle was used to position a spacecraft in lunar orbit. Since then, the spacecraft has undergone a succession of orbital maneuvers that have brought it closer to the moon’s surface.

July 14 marked one month and seven days since the launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The spacecraft was launched from Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission, has the stated goals of a safe and gentle landing, rover exploration on the moon’s surface, and on-site scientific experiments.

The approved cost of Chandrayaan-3 is 250 crores (excluding the cost of the launch vehicle).

The Chandrayaan-3 construction phase began in January 2020, with a launch scheduled for 2021. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an unanticipated delay in the mission’s advancement.

The main scientific outcomes of Chandrayaan-2 include the first-ever global map of sodium on the moon, a greater understanding of crater size distribution, the unambiguous detection of water ice on the moon’s surface with the IIRS instrument, and more.

Moon functions as a repository for Earth’s history, and a successful Indian lunar mission will help to improve life on Earth while also allowing India to explore the remainder of the solar system and beyond.

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