August 23 is celebrated as National Space Day to commemorate the landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the moon's south pole. Here's all you need to know about Chandrayaan 3.
Image Source: ISRO
Chandrayaan 3 was the third mission of the Chandrayaan programme of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Image Source: ISRO
With Chandrayaan 1 (2008), ISRO became the fifth national space agency to reach the moon.
Image Source: ISRO
The Chandrayaan 2 (2019) was partially successful. Although the lander crashed, its orbiter is still functional and is expected to orbit around the moon till 2026.
Image Source: ISRO
The lessons learned from the two missions helped in making Chandrayaan 3 successful and in transforming India’s space journey.
Image Source: ISRO
The mission had a lunar lander, Vikram, and a lunar rover, Pragyan. It was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on July 14, 2023.
Image Source: ISRO
With the success of Chandrayaan 3, ISRO became the first space agency to land on the south pole of the moon. The mission took 40 days, or almost 6 weeks, from launch to landing.
Image Source: ISRO
The lunar south pole holds great significance for scientific exploration as large amounts of ice present on the surface could be a potential source of oxygen, water and even fuel because of its hydrogen content.
ISRO had 3 main objectives for the mission. One, a soft landing on the moon. Two, observing the rover’s driving capabilities on the moon. Three, understanding the moon’s composition by conducting experiments with materials available on the moon's surface.
Image Source: ISRO
The mission was awarded the World Space Award by the International Astronautical Federation in June 2024 for its achievement of landing near the moon’s south pole. The award ceremony will be held in October.
Thanks for reading!
See next