Chandrayaan-3: Interesting Glimpses Of The Upcoming Launch From Sriharikota

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon at 2:35 pm IST on Friday, July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota

If ISRO successfully accomplish a soft landing on the Moon with Chandrayaan-3, India would become the fourth nation, following the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China to achieve this feat

The Chandrayaan-3 mission will be launched into space by the Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-III) which was earlier known as the GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) Mark-III

The LVM-3 is a heavy-lift launch vehicle renowned for its ability to carry a substantial payload into space. It is the most powerful rocket developed by ISRO known as the 'Bahubali' of rockets, the LVM-3 is a three-stage rocket equipped with two solid-fuel boosters and a liquid-fuel core stage

The solid-fuel boosters provide the initial thrust, while the liquid-fuel core stage ensures sustained thrust to propel the rocket into orbit

The main Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft consists of three modules—the lander module, a propulsion module and a rover module. The propulsion module will carry the spacecraft from an injection orbit around Earth till a 100-kilometre lunar orbit. While that is its primary function, the propulsion module will also be carrying a payload that will take spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from a lunar orbit

The spacecraft will weigh 3,900kg - the propulsion module weighs 2,148kg, while the lander module, including the rover, weighs 1,752 kg. Tracking of the lander will happen from Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac) station in Bengaluru

Changes in Chandrayaan-3: include increasing the velocity tolerance level, more fuel, adding new sensors to measure velocity and changes to the solar panels. Isro has also improved the software to have more tolerance to failures like engine disruptions, thrust disruptions, sensor failures, etc, while also removing the central or fifth engine, which was added last minute during Chandrayaan-2

Objectives of Chandrayaan-3 Mission: One is to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the surface of the moon. The second is to demonstrate rover operations on the moon. And the third objective is to conduct in-situ scientific experiments on the lunar surface

Scientists at ISRO have tentatively scheduled soft landing on the lunar surface expected to be around 40 days after the launch by August 23-24