what is mission of chandrayaan 3

11 months ago 41
Nature

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2, developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. The mission is aimed at the lunar south pole, a region with water ice that could be a source of oxygen, fuel, and water for future moon missions or a more permanent moon colony. The spacecraft consists of a lander and rover configuration, and it was launched by LVM3 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The propulsion module carried the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit. The lander payloads include 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, and 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. The rover is equipped with science instruments designed to deepen our understanding of the Moon. If it lands successfully, the Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.