An insight into India's Moon mission – Chandrayan-3: The first nation to land on the southernmost polar region of the Moon

Abstract

With the mission's completion, India became only the fourth nation in history to successfully perform a soft landing on the Moon and the first nation to land a spacecraft close to the lunar south pole. The purpose of the article is to present a comprehensive review of the Chandrayaan-3 mission (a sequel operation to Chandrayaan-2) to demonstrate complete capabilities in secure lunar landing and exploration on the Moon's surface. It is equipped with a Vikram lander and Pragyan rover. An in-depth review is carried out to discuss the findings of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. The goals of Chandrayaan-3's mission are: (a) to show a safe and soft landing on the surface of the Moon

(b) to showcase roving lunar rover technology

and (c) to carry out in-situ scientific research. The goals are achieved through the lander payloads, which include the Langmuir Probe (LP), Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE), Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA), and Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure thermal conductivity and temperature. For lunar laser-ranging investigations, the space agency NASA has provided a passive Laser Retroreflector Array. The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) are rover payloads that were used to determine the elemental composition close to the landing site. The mission goals are highly accomplished with the successful hop experiment of Vikram on the Chandrayaan-3 mission! As ordered, it raised itself to a height of around 40 cm, turned on its engines, and then made a safe landing between 30 and 40 cm away. To put an end to the controversy, the study finishes with highlights on (a) the significant area of the southernmost polar region of the Moon with latitudes ranging from 60 to 90°S and (b) Shiv Shakti point (coordinates 69.373°S 32.319°E). © 2024 Elsevier Ltd