As per the directions given by Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for the Department of Space, it is believed that Chandrayaan-3 may be launched somewhere in the early 2021. For making this mission possible as soon as possible, ISRO (Indian Space and Research Organization) is swiftly moving ahead with this mission. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the mission was delayed, although now it has been planned to be launched in early ’21 towards the Lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-3 is a repeat mission of Chandrayaan-2 except the fact that this time a rover and lander will be included while launching it, thus making it different from the predecessor. In 2019, an announcement was made about certain plans of launching another mission by the end of ’20, although it has now been delayed due to the pandemic situation.
Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019. The Vikram hard-landed on the lunar surface of the moon on September 7. Even though this is a huge setback, it is believed that the orbiter is in working condition and thus will be able to transmit data.
In June, the ISRO had also announced a Gaganyaan mission which has also in turn be delayed to a later date. Chandrayaan-3 is considered as a second attempt by ISRO to make a soft landing on the south pole of the moon. In one of the announcements, K. Sivan said that, “The Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter will be used for communicating with the lander and rover of Chandrayaan-3 during their mission on the moon.”
Many reports suggested that, due to the setback of the earlier mission, the ISRO might understand if any improvements can be made which are in turn suggested by the experts. The ISRO has one priority which is ‘strengthening the legs of the lander’ this will help to improve the chances of survival in the event of another cash.
Despite the hard landing, Chandrayaan-2 is considered as 95-98% success, as all the instruments on the orbiter are functioning well and are transmitting data to ISRO. So far, the mission has helped the scientists know about the lunar atmosphere, topography, composition and other details. Chandrayaaan-1 has helped get information that there is a presence of ice water on the poles, which is devoid of sunlight. It was recently discovered that there is a presence of rust or hematite on the lunar surface.
Apart all this, the ISRO continues to work on its most anticipated missions, Gaganyaan- the first ever human space mission. The training of astronauts has been on going in Russia and a couple of un-crewed precursor missions are likely to take off next year.
NEWS REPORTED BY:
VRIDHI BHAGNARI.
