Chandrayaan 3: A glossary of words you need to know
Chandrayaan 3 moon landing: Chandrayaan-3 set to make record-breaking soft landing on Moon's south pole, conducting various scientific experiments.
Chandrayaan-3 Landing Updates: Chandrayaan-3 on Wednesday is getting closer to the moon and in just a matter of a few hours, the Indian spacecraft will script record by soft landing on the Moon's south pole region. Chandrayaan-3, which means "Mooncraft" in Sanskrit, is scheduled to touch down shortly after 6:00 pm India time (1230 GMT) near the little-explored lunar south pole.
Before the soft landing, here's a list of some terminologies about the Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission:
- Soft-landing: It entails controlled descent, ensuring the safe landing of the spacecraft. On reaching an altitude of about 150-100 metres, the lander using its sensors and cameras, would scan the surface to check whether there are any obstacles and then start descending to make a soft landing.
-Lander: On a spacecraft, the lander module is a part that will descend towards an astronomical body (here it is the Moon). Landers are designed and developed to make soft landings.
-Rover: A rover is designed to explore the solid surface of a planet or other planetary-mass celestial bodies.
-Moon South polar region: According to NASA, this part of the Moon is full of "mystery, science and intrigue". At the lunar South Pole, the Sun hovers below or just above the horizon, creating temperatures upwards of 54 degrees Celsius during sunlit periods. However, some of these craters are home to permanently shadowed regions that haven’t seen sunlight in billions of years and experience temperatures as low as -203 degrees Celsius.
Also read: 7 incredible facts about Chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Importance of this mission
As per the ISRO's website, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft will “measure the near-surface plasma (ions and electrons) density and its changes with time; carry out the measurements of thermal properties of the lunar surface near-polar region; ensure seismicity around the landing site and delineating the structure of the lunar crust and mantle; derive the chemical Composition and infer mineralogical composition to further our understanding of Lunar-surface, and will determine the elemental composition of Lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site".
The lander module as payloads including RAMBHA-LP which is to measure the near-surface plasma ions and electrons density and its changes, ChaSTE Chandra's Surface Thermo Physical Experiment -- to carry out the measurements of thermal properties of the lunar surface near-polar region-- and ILSA (Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity) to measure seismicity around the landing site and delineating the structure of the lunar crust and mantle.
The rover, after the soft-landing, would ramp down the lander module and study the surface of the moon through its payload APXS - Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer - to derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of the lunar surface.
The rover also has another payload Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) that will determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site.
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First Published:23 Aug 2023, 01:06 PM IST
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