India’s third Moon mission put a lander and a rover on the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-3 did what Chandrayaan-2 could not.
Must Know
The Soft-Landing Mission
The main task
- TaskChandrayaan-3’s main task was to demonstrate a safe, soft landing on the Moon.
- Earlier MissionChandrayaan-2 could not achieve this goal. Its lander lost contact and crashed during descent in September 2019.
- PlusThe mission also had to prove that a rover could move on the surface. Instruments had to study the lunar soil near the south pole.
When and where it landed
- LaunchChandrayaan-3 lifted off on 14 July 2023 from Sriharikota. It rode the LVM3-M4 rocket of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
- LandingThe Vikram lander soft-landed on 23 August 2023 at 6:04 pm IST.
- SiteThe landing site lies at 69.37 degrees south and 32.35 degrees east. That spot sits close to the lunar south pole.
- FirstIndia became the first country to land near the lunar south pole.
The countries that soft-landed on the Moon
- USSRThe Soviet Union made the first soft landing in 1966. Its Luna 9 spacecraft touched down on the Moon.
- USAThe United States landed Surveyor 1 later that same year. Apollo 11 carried humans to the Moon in 1969.
- ChinaChina soft-landed its Chang’e-3 probe in 2013. Chang’e-4 reached the far side of the Moon in 2019.
- IndiaIndia became the fourth country in August 2023. Chandrayaan-3 achieved the soft landing near the south pole.
- JapanJapan soft-landed its SLIM probe in January 2024. It became the fifth country to do so.
Three modules, one stack
- ModulesChandrayaan-3 flew as three connected modules. They were the propulsion module, the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover.
- StackThe lander carried the rover inside it. The propulsion module pushed the whole stack toward the Moon.
Good to Know
Subsystems and the Virtual Launch Control Centre
The propulsion module
- JobThe propulsion module carried the lander and rover to lunar orbit. It placed the stack in a circular polar orbit about 100 km high.
- SHAPEIt carried one science payload called SHAPE. SHAPE studied Earth’s light spectrum from lunar orbit.
- RelayIt kept circling the Moon after the lander separated. It also acted as a communication relay for the mission.
The Vikram lander
- RoleVikram performed the powered descent to the lunar surface. Four throttleable engines guided the descent. Sensors and cameras helped it pick a safe spot.
- ChaSTEChaSTE measured temperature and thermal properties of the soil.
- ILSAILSA recorded seismic activity at the landing site.
- RAMBHA-LPRAMBHA-LP studied the thin plasma near the lunar surface.
- LRAA laser retroreflector array from NASA rode on the lander. It can help measure the distance between Earth and the Moon.
- HopOn 3 September 2023, Vikram fired its engines again. It rose about 40 cm and landed a short distance away. This proved the lander could take off from the Moon. Future sample-return missions will need this skill.
The Pragyan rover
- RoverPragyan is a six-wheeled, solar-powered rover weighing about 26 kg. After landing, ramps helped Pragyan roll onto the surface.
- APXSAPXS used X-rays to identify elements in the lunar soil.
- LIBSLIBS used lasers to vaporise soil and read its chemistry.
- SulphurBoth instruments confirmed sulphur near the south pole. Earlier missions had not measured it directly in this region.
- DistanceThe rover travelled more than 100 metres during its mission.
The Virtual Launch Control Centre
- WhyThe Virtual Launch Control Centre was born during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 lockdown forced ISRO to rethink launch operations.
- First UseIt was first used for the PSLV-C49 launch on 7 November 2020. That was ISRO’s first launch after the lockdown.
- HowSecure video and data links connect remote teams to the countdown. Engineers can monitor the rocket from anywhere.
- RoleThe VLCC lets launches run with few people in the control room. It keeps operations safe, flexible and resilient.
- MissionFor Chandrayaan-3, the VLCC linked SDSC SHAR with other ISRO centres. Many scientists followed the launch from remote locations.
Test Yourself
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Science, Names and the Road Ahead
What the landing taught us
- TemperatureChaSTE found the soil temperature swings sharply with depth. The surface heats up under lunar daylight. A few centimetres down, the soil stays much colder.
- SeismicILSA caught small vibrations on the surface. Some came from the rover’s own movements.
- ElementsAPXS and LIBS found sulphur, aluminium, iron and more. The results refine earlier maps of the lunar soil.
Shiv Shakti Point and National Space Day
- NameThe landing site was named Shiv Shakti Point. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the name.
- Tiranga PointThe Chandrayaan-2 crash site was named Tiranga Point.
- DayIndia celebrates National Space Day on 23 August. The date marks the anniversary of the Chandrayaan-3 landing.
Why Chandrayaan-2 failed and Chandrayaan-3 won
- FailureChandrayaan-2 lost contact minutes before its landing. The lander hit the surface at high speed.
- FixChandrayaan-3 used the lessons from that failure. It carried more fuel and better landing software.
- DesignThe lander was designed to survive some failures. ISRO called this a failure-based design approach.
- ResultThe safe landing proved the whole landing chain works. India now has a proven soft-landing capability.
End of mission and the next steps
- SleepVikram and Pragyan were put to sleep on 2 September 2023. Lunar night ended their solar power supply.
- WakeISRO tried to wake them on 22 September 2023. The wake-up attempts did not succeed.
- NextISRO plans Chandrayaan-4 to return lunar samples. A joint India-Japan mission may explore the Moon’s polar region.
PYQ
Previous Year Questions
UPSC CSM 2023 GS Paper III, Q16
- UPSC 2023UPSC CSM 2023 GS Paper III, Q16 — View this question
- AskThe question asks for the main task of India’s third Moon mission. That task was the soft landing Chandrayaan-2 could not achieve.
- It asks which countries have already achieved this task.
- It asks for the spacecraft’s subsystems and the Virtual Launch Control Centre.
- PlanOpen with the soft-landing objective and its Chandrayaan-2 history.
- Name the landing countries in a short list.
- Describe the propulsion module, the lander and the rover.
- Close with the VLCC’s remote countdown role at SDSC SHAR.
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