Gearing up for launch of its third trip to the moon, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath on Monday told News18 that Chandrayaan-3 has advanced capabilities to move to an alternate landing site in case of an issue.
Returning to the launch pad on July 14, the mission team of Chandrayaan-3 is eyeing to demonstrate a successful soft landing on the moon for the first time.
The agency has expanded the area of landing on the moon to 4 km x 2.5 km to ensure its success. “We will target a specific point near the south pole, but for any reason, if its performance is poor, then it can land anywhere within that area. Moreover, we have given it more fuel and capability to travel to an alternate site. But it will definitely land,” said Somanath, exuding confidence.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is set for launch on July 14 from Sriharikota. “It has to launch precisely at 2:35pm. If we miss it, then we will look at another suitable day and time, but then it will be a different mission with different design,” he added speaking on the sidelines of the India Space Congress-2023 in New Delhi.
A successful mission will bring India into an elite club of nations – the Soviet Union, China and the US, that have demonstrated successful lunar landings in the past.
The ISRO chief also indicated India’s next plan for the moon. “We have plans to work together with Japan for a moon mission. We are still in a technical discussion. They want to develop a lander and land at a specific site on the moon, while we are to develop the rest of the scientific capabilities,” he told News18.
The top scientist said the space agency has perfected its plan of reaching the moon. “We have done it three times already. But unlike Chandrayaan-2, where we had a success-based design, we have prepared a failure-based design for Chandrayaan-3. We have looked at everything that can go wrong and addressed it,” he said.
The space scientists have looked at all kinds of possible failures – the sensors, algorithms, engines and fixed them through multiple tests. The lander has also been provided with additional solar panels to ensure adequate power.
Though Chandrayaan-2 crash landed, it was able to provide high-resolution images of the lunar surface, said the ISRO chief.
The details were used by ISRO to finalise a landing site for its upcoming trip to the moon. “This time we know all the details of the landing site – the boulders, craters… everything has been well-mapped,” he added.
Search for Water
The space agency also intends to further explore the presence of water molecules near the south pole. Back in 2008, ISRO had given the evidence of water on the moon with its first moon mission.
“It’s one of the goals this time too. There are better chances of finding sub-surface water in the less sun-lit areas, so we will definitely try that. Since no one has ever reached this area, it will definitely be interesting,” he added.
The mission is set for launch on July 14 aboard the agency’s heaviest rocket – GSLV Mk3 (LVM-3).
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