Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 14: Lifting the expectations of the millions of Indians, India’s Chandrayaan-3 lifted off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, carrying the hopes of an entire nation. At the end of the 25.30 hour countdown, the LVM3-M4 rocket, the largest and heaviest in its class and dubbed as ‘Fat Boy’ lifted off majestically dot at 2.35 p.m. on Friday from the second launch pad discharging thick plumes of very welcome smoke.
If successful, the mission will make India the fourth country to achieve a controlled landing on the moon, after the erstwhile Soviet Union, the United States and China.
The moon lander Vikram is perched on a Mark 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle — dubbed the Bahubali rocket. The journey from Earth to the moon for the spacecraft is estimated to take about a month and the landing is expected on August 23. Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days. Moon has 14 continuous days followed by 14 continuous nights and so one Moon Day is equal to 14 days on Earth.
Following the separation from the launch vehicle, the propulsion module along with the lander would proceed for an over a month long journey towards reaching the orbit of the moon until it goes 100 km above the lunar surface. After reaching the desired altitude, the lander module would begin its descent for a soft landing on the moon’s South Pole region.
The ISRO Chairman S Somanath told media persons after the successful launch of the estimated Rs 600 crore mission that India’s third moon mission Chandrayaan-3 would attempt the technically challenging soft landing on lunar surface on August 23. He said the craft’s infusion into the lunar orbit has been planned from August 1. The soft landing has been planned at 5.47 pm on August 23, more than a month after Chandrayaan-3 took off from the spaceport here piggybacking on the heavylift LVM3-M4 rocket, he added.
Some ISRO scientists said in case for some unknown reasons soft landing could not be performed on August 23, the lander would stay in the lunar orbit to attempt another landing after 29 earth days.
The Chandrayyan-3 have three major components — a lander, a rover, and a propulsion model. It will be using the Orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 which still exists in the lunar atmosphere. In a first, India’s mooncraft ‘Vikram’ will land in the South Pole of the moon, where water molecules have been found. The finding, made during India’s first moon mission in 2008, had startled the world.
Vikram is meant to have a safe, soft landing. The lander will then release the rover Pragyan, which will roam the moon’s surface for a lunar day and conduct scientific experiments. The third lunar mission comes four years after an earlier attempt failed, with the ground crew losing contact moments before landing.
The ISRO’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 failed while attempting to land in 2019. However, to avoid past failures, ISRO has corporate a series of changes in the upcoming mission.
“The main lacuna in the last Chandrayaan-2 mission was that there were off-nominal conditions that were initiated in the system. Everything was not nominal. And the craft was not able to handle the off-nominal condition for a safe landing,” Somanath said.
He said when Chandrayaa-3’s lander Vikram touches down on the Moon and deploys the rover Pragyan, India will not only unlock a fount of knowledge but also get insights into possible human habitation on the celestial body. He said while the issue needed more study, a location close to the equator would be more suited for human beings to settle than the poles. He said an equatorial location could be more ideal for human beings to settle, if at all a human habitat has to be built.”
Emphasising on the importance of the availability of power in such a location, Somanath said, “Power would be reasonably continuous and available, which is the key element to survival. Of course, water creation becomes an issue and its extraction, whether from subterranean sources or brought from the pole, has to be discussed. So I can’t fully go into that. I need to study.
The ISRO has taken corrective measures after the failed bid to soft-land on the Moon nearly four years ago, and is expecting successful touch down on the lunar surface with its Chandrayaan-3 mission but it’s going to be a challenging job, its former Chairman K Sivan said. “This is a very important launch, and we have done it successfully,” he said after the launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, and noted that expectations in India from the ambitious venture are very high.
“Last time we could not do the landing mission (Chandrayaan-2) successfully. So, this time we are attempting (again). We have planned with all corrective measures. The launch happened today successfully. So that way the first phase is over successfully,” Sivan, who was the ISRO Chairman during the Chandrayaan-2 mission, said. “Moon landing is not an easy job. It’s a challenging job…(but) we are expecting that we will land successfully,” he added.
President Droupadi Murmu on Friday said India’s successful launching of Chandrayaan-3 marks another significant milestone in space exploration besides demonstrating the nation’s unwavering commitment to advancement in space science and technology. She also congratulated the ISRO team and everyone else who worked relentlessly to accomplish the feat.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently on a visit to France, hailed the launch of Chandrayaan-3 as a “new chapter” in India’s space odyssey and said it has elevated the dreams and ambitions of every Indian.
“Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in India’s space odyssey. It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian,” PM Modi tweeted. “This momentous achievement is a testament to our scientists’ relentless dedication. I salute their spirit and ingenuity!” he said.
The Congress on Friday lauded ISRO for the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 and said it was testimony to the vision, foresight, determination and accomplishment of all previous prime ministers, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the launch was a matter of great pride for all Indians as he paid tributes to countless scientists who devoted their lives for building a scientific temper among people.
“Today, Chandrayaan-3 is a testimony to the vision, foresight, determination and accomplishment of all our previous prime ministers, including Pandit Nehru ji, Lal Bahadur Shastri ji, Indira Gandhi ji, P.V. Narasimha Rao ji, Rajiv Gandhi ji, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji and Manmohan Singh ji.” “It is our sincere tribute to Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Satish Dhawan and countless visionary scientists who devoted their lives to establish and inculcate scientific temper for human and social development for our people,” he tweeted.