Launching at 09:05 UTC July 14th from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) sending the Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander on its technique to the Moon’s Southern hemisphere.
LVM3 M4/Chandrayaan-3:
Lift-off, tracking and onboard views pic.twitter.com/eUAFShS1jA— ISRO (@isro) July 14, 2023
The LVM3 is a three-stage launch vehicle designed by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The fully stacked rocket stands 43.4 meters tall and is 4 meters in diameter. As compared, the SpaceX Falcon 9 stands 70 meters tall and is 3.7 meters in diameter. The LVM3 is able to launching as much as 10,000 kg to low Earth orbit, the fully integrated propulsion module and lander weigh in at 3,900 kg.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up to the Chandrayaan-2 mission which failed during its final descent to the Moon’s surface. The present mission will take roughly 40 days to enter orbit across the Moon. The rationale for the long trip to the Moon is the lander was inserted right into a highly elliptical orbit and is making smaller more fuel-efficient burns as an alternative of a shorter trip using a trans lunar injection burn.
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The trail to the Moon for Chandrayaan-3 (Credit ISRO)
The Vikram lander could make its attempt at a landing on the Moon’s surface as early as August 23. This lander has a couple of differences from its predecessor, switching from 5 engines to 4, strengthened landing legs, and a laser doppler velocimeter together with other redundant systems to avoid the problems that plagued the Chandrayaan-2 mission.
There are 3 scientific payloads on the lander, the Chandra Surface Thermophysical Experiment that can measure thermal conductivity and temperature on the surface of the Moon, the Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity to measure for Moonquakes, and the Langmuir Probe to measure plasma density.
Riding together with the lander is the Pragyan rover which is designed to last not less than 14 Earth days which is equal to 1 lunar day. The solar-powered six-wheeled rover weighs in at 26 kg and has an expected range of 500 meters. The rover has 2 payloads that can each measure the Moon’s composition.
If the landing is successful, India will join america, Russia, and China because the only countries to have made a soft landing on the Moon.