ISRO Unveils Pictures Of Chandrayaan-3 Lander Ahead Of July Launch

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has recently released images of the Chandrayaan-3 lander, providing a glimpse into the eagerly anticipated lunar mission scheduled for launch in July.

ISRO Chairman S Somanath announced earlier this week that if all tests progress as planned, Chandrayaan-3, the third iteration of India's lunar mission, will take off between 12 and 19 July.

The spacecraft has already arrived at the launch pad in the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, after being transported from the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, he added.

""The final preparations are going on. It will be completed by the end of this month. The rocket, LVM-3, is going to be used for this launch and its assembly is going on. All parts for its assembly have reached Sriharikota. It will be launched between July 12 and 19," Somanath said.

In light of the challenges faced during the Chandrayaan-2 mission, the ISRO Chairman highlighted various modifications made to the Chandrayaan-3's hardware, structure, computers, software, and sensors to ensure a trouble-free launch.

The ISRO chairman mentioned that additional fuel had been incorporated, along with strengthened landing legs. He further stated that large solar panels had been installed to generate more energy, and an extra sensor had been included.

In terms of speed measurement, a 'Laser Doppler VelociMeter' instrument, developed the previous year, had been integrated, he said, adding, the algorithm had also been modified, and new software had been implemented to facilitate Chandrayaan's ability to land in an alternative location in the event of any failure at the designated site.

ISRO has outlined three primary objectives for the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Firstly, it aims to demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface. Secondly, the mission seeks to showcase the capabilities of a rover traversing the moon's terrain. Lastly, in-situ scientific experiments will be conducted.

The propulsion module will ferry the lander and rover configuration to a lunar orbit of 100 km. Additionally, the propulsion module is equipped with the Spectropolarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload, enabling the study of spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.