Chandrayan 3

Moon is believed to contain valuable resources such as water ice, minerals, and rare elements. These resources could be utilized for various purposes, including space manufacturing, fuel production, and construction

- Presence of water ice on the Moon's surface- Water can be split into Hydrogen & Oxygen - which can serve as propellants for rockets, enabling in-space refueling and making deep space exploration more cost-effective

- Lunar South Pole - store vast amount of water-ice & has low level of light from sun for extended period. Thus, suitable for a base.

About Chandrayan 3-

Total three modules - Propulsion + Lander + Rover

- Propulsion module will propel the Lander-Rover configuration to an orbit 100 km above the moon’s surface

- Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan)

- The payloads of the Lander, Rover, and propulsion module will enable scientists to gain new insights into the characteristics of the earth’s sole natural satellite

- Chandrayaan-2, Lander-Rover configuration and its payloads were lost by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) when ‘Vikram’ impacted on the lunar surface while attempting a soft landing.

Launch Vehicles of ISRO

Chandrayaan 3 will use LVM3 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 3) - India's heaviest rocket to the Moon

• GSLV, in general, is a three-staged vehicle with first stage using solid rocket motor, second stage using Liquid fuel and the third stage, called Cryogenic Upper Stage, using cryogenic engine.
• Primarily designed to launch communication satellites into geostationary orbit it is also due to launch crewed missions under the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
• Meant for transfer to Geo-synchronous Earth orbit (GEO).

LANDER VIKRAM PAYLOAD

- Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure the

thermal conductivity and temperature.

- Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) for measuring the seismicity around

the landing site.

- Langmuir Probe (LP) to estimate the plasma density and its variations.

- A passive Laser Retroreflector Array from NASA is accommodated for lunar laser ranging studies.

ROVER PRAGYAN PAYLOAD

- Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS)

- Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving the elemental composition in the vicinity of landing site.

- Three countries have had operating rovers onthe Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States and China.

- Chandrayaan 2 was unsuccessful while Japan and Greece currently have planned missions.

- Lunokhod (Russia) was the first rover to land on Moon in 1970.

PROPULSION MODULE PAYLOAD

- The propulsion module has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and Polari metric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.

Chandrayan 3- Mission Profile

Chandrayaan-3 – Integrated Module