India is counting down the minutes until Chandrayaan-3 soft lands on the moon’s south pole region, which will make it the first country to do so.
The moon’s south pole is an unchartered area that scientists believe could hold important information about frozen water and precious elements. Chandrayaan-3 is designed to conduct scientific experiments to study the moon’s environment, history, and geology, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).
Here are four interesting things to know about the moon-bound spacecraft.
One, this is India’s second attempt in four years to land a rover on the moon. India’s first mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1 was launched in 2008. Using the data it collected, scientists found frozen water deposits in the darkest and coldest parts of the moon’s polar regions for the first time, according to Press Trust India. In 2019, Isro launched Chandrayaan-2, which belly-crashed on the lunar surface during its final approach.
Two, learning from its previous attempt to land on the moon, Isro has chosen a failure-based design for Chandrayaan-3, which focuses on all the things that can fail during the launch and landing to protect the spacecraft from them, according to a Livemint report. Isro has said that the new mission has been designed to land successfully even if some elements fail.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
— ISRO (@isro) August 21, 2023
Here are the images of
Lunar far side area
captured by the
Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC).
This camera that assists in locating a safe landing area -- without boulders or deep trenches -- during the descent is developed by ISRO… pic.twitter.com/rwWhrNFhHB
Three, if Chandrayaan-3 successfully lands on the moon, India will become the second country, along with China, to have an operating rover on the moon. It will be the fourth country to successfully achieve a soft landing on Moon. Previously, China, the US, and the erstwhile Soviet Union achieved this landmark, according to an Associated Press report.
Four, social media is currently buzzing with discussion about Chandrayaan-3’s budget and the mission itself, with #Chandrayaan3 one of the trending science terms on X (previously Twitter). Earlier this week, former journalist Cindy Pom posted on X, reposting a post from her organisation Newsthink: “Kinda crazy when you realize India's budget for Chandrayaan-3 ($75M) is less than the film Interstellar ($165M).”
Back in 2020, former Isro chairman K Sivan had said that Chandrayaan-3’s cost was around ₹615 crore. This includes the lander, rover and propulsion module cost of ₹250 crore and the launch services cost around ₹365 crore, according to a CNBC report. According to Isro, this is one of the most cost-effective space missions as compared to its predecessors.
