Mission Moon Chandrayaan-3
What's the Timeline of Chandrayaan-3?
1.On July 6, 2023, ISRO announced the launch date for Chandrayaan-3 as July 14, with plans for liftoff from Sriharikota's secondary launch pad. ISRO completed the vehicle electrical assessments on July 7.
2.Following this, on July 11, the space agency executed a 24-hour launch rehearsal, simulating the entire launch procedure. Finally, on July 14, the spacecraft was launched into its designated orbit by the LVM3 M4 vehicle.
3.Subsequently, a series of orbit-raising maneuvers occurred, starting on July 15 (41,762 km x 173 km), followed by three more on July 17 (41,603 km x 226 km), July 22 (71,351 km x 233 km), and July 25
4.On August 1, Chandrayaan-3 was placed into a translunar orbit (288 km x 3,69,328 km). The spacecraft successfully entered lunar orbit on August 5 (164 km x 18074 km).
5.Adjustments to the lunar orbit took place on August 6, setting it at 170 km x 4,313 km, and on August 9, ISRO refined Chandrayaan-3's trajectory to maintain a lunar orbit of 174 km x 1,437 km.
6.By August 14, Chandrayaan-3 had moved closer to the Moon's surface, achieving an orbit of 150 km x 177 km. This phase was followed by its fifth and final Moon-bound maneuver, establishing a circular lunar orbit of 163 km x 153 km on August 17.
7.On August 17, the landing module, containing the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, separated from its propulsion system. An operation on August 18, termed "deboosting," adjusted the landing module's orbit to 113 km x 157 km.
8.Finally, on August 20, Chandrayaan-3's orbit reached its farthest point from the Moon at 134 km x 25 km. The lunar touchdown phase commenced on
9. August 23 at 5:47 pm IST, culminating in a successful soft-landing achieved at 6:04 PM IST.
What's next for Indian Lunar mission Chandrayaan-3?
Following a successful lunar landing, Chandrayaan-3's next phase involves the Pragyan rover conducting extensive surface analysis of the Moon over a 14 Earth-day lunar day. Equipped with five scientific instruments, both the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover will collaborate on this mission.
Once the Vikram lander touches down on the Moon's surface, it will unfold one side panel and deploy a ramp for the six-wheeled Pragyan rover. Approximately four hours later, Pragyan will descend from the lander and begin its slow traverse at a speed of 1 cm per second, capturing data with navigation cameras.
As it moves, the rover will leave an imprint of India's national flag and ISRO's logo on the lunar regolith.
This data will be relayed to the lander, which will also gather information about the Moon's near-surface plasma density and thermal properties. Communication with ISRO's Earth-based team will be maintained through the lander.
