Chandrayaan 3: Why did ISRO gentle land Vikram Lander once more? Explained

The Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO commanded the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s Vikram Lander to reignite its engines, elevating it by roughly 40 cm, introduced the area company on Monday. The lander achieved a protected touchdown at a distance of 30 to 40 cm from the ‘Shiv Shakti Point’, the earlier touchdown spot.

ALSO READ – Chandrayaan 3’s Vikram Lander gentle lands on Moon for second time: ISRO

However, the query arises: Why did the ISRO soft-land the lander on the Moon once more?

Launched on July 14 because the fourth operational flight of the LVM3 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Station in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota, India’s lunar mission efficiently touched down on the lunar floor on August 23, effectively inside its meant touchdown website, later named because the Shiv Shakti Point by India.

By efficiently conducting the hop experiment by ascending a number of centimetres, Vikram Lander has efficiently achieved all its aims, stated ISRO. The Indian area company additional defined that this “kick-start” manoeuvre aids in learning future pattern returns and human missions.

As of now, the ISRO doesn’t have any human mission or Moon pattern return deliberate. Instead, the ISRO is concentrated on the Gaganyaan mission, which goals to reveal human spaceflight capabilities by launching a crew of three members right into a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission and safely bringing them again to Earth, with a touchdown within the Indian sea waters.

China’s lunar exploration mission, Chang’e 6, scheduled for a 2024 launch, will carry out China’s second pattern return mission. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has the Artemis programme, with the intention of reestablishing a human presence on the Moon for the primary time because the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Artemis III will likely be a crewed lunar exploration mission, however it’s not anticipated to occur earlier than 2025, as Artemis II is deliberate for November 2024.

Chandrayaan 3 mission’s achievements to this point

Throughout its operational section, Vikram Lander and Pragyan rover executed quite a few lunar experiments:

1. Rover Exploration: Prior to activating the Pragyan rover’s sleep mode, ISRO reported that it lined a distance of over 100 meters. Notably, the rover’s communication vary is proscribed to 500 meters from the Vikram lander.

2. Historic Sulphur Discovery: The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the rover unequivocally confirmed the presence of Sulphur (S) within the lunar floor close to the south pole, representing a groundbreaking in-situ measurement. Additionally, LIBS detected Al, Ca, Fe, Cr, Ti, Mn, Si, and O.

3. Pioneering Plasma Measurements: The Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere – Langmuir Probe (RAMBHA-LP) payload onboard Chandrayaan-3 Lander carried out groundbreaking measurements of the near-surface lunar plasma atmosphere over the south polar area. Preliminary assessments counsel comparatively sparse plasma close to the lunar floor. These quantitative measurements maintain promise for mitigating interference in radio wave communication and enhancing future lunar mission designs.

4. Seismic Activity Recording: The Instrument for the Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) payload on Chandrayaan 3 Lander, the primary Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology-based instrument on the moon, recorded the actions of the rover and different payloads. Additionally, it captured an occasion on August 26, deemed to be of pure origin, which is at the moment below investigation.

5. Thermal Behaviour Exploration: The ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) instrument measured the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil across the pole to higher perceive the thermal traits of the moon’s floor. Equipped with a managed penetration mechanism able to reaching a depth of 10 cm beneath the floor and that includes 10 particular person temperature sensors, the probe generated a temperature variation graph for the lunar floor/near-surface at numerous depths throughout its penetration. This marked the primary such profile for the lunar south pole, with ongoing detailed observations.

6. Alternate Sulphur Confirmation: Another instrument onboard the rover corroborated the presence of Sulphur (S) within the area utilizing a definite approach. The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) detected S alongside different minor components. This discovering has prompted scientists to discover new theories concerning the supply of Sulphur (S) within the space, together with intrinsic, volcanic, meteoritic, and different potentialities.