Chandrayaan-3: Awesome way ISRO packed Vikram Lander, Pragyan Rover, propulsion module for Moon trip
Photo Credit: ISRO
India’s historic Chandrayaan-3 mission is currently on, but its individual parts are resting on the lunar surface. While Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module is orbiting the Moon, Pragyan Rover and Vikram Lander are in sleep mode.
Photo Credit: ISRO
Vikram lander and Pragyan rover are sleeping during the long lunar night and they will do so for a fortnight, but are expected to be woken up by ISRO on 22 September when the sun rises on the Moon in their region.
Photo Credit: ISRO
The highlight of the entire mission is the genius way ISRO packed the Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module, Vikram Lander and Pragyan rover.
Photo Credit: ISRO
Chandrayaan-3's components include an indigenous Lander module (LM) called Vikram, a Propulsion module (PM), and Pragyan Rover, which is the size of a dog.
Photo Credit: ISRO
Chandrayaan-3 was launched into space using the LVM3 launch vehicle from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
The Chandryaan-3 propulsion module carried Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover configuration to a lunar orbit 100 kilometers above the lunar surface.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
The Rover is equipped with the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) to analyze the elemental composition near the landing site.
Photo Credit: ISRO
Thereafter, Vikram Lander performed a soft landing at a designated lunar site near the South Pole and deployed Pragyan Rover to move across the Moon's surface.
Photo Credit: NASA
The propulsion module is equipped with the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload, designed for studying Earth from lunar orbit.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Vikram Lander carries several payloads, including ChaSTE for thermal conductivity and temperature measurements, ILSA for seismic activity measurements, and LP for plasma density estimation. It also accommodates a passive Laser Retroreflector Array from NASA for lunar laser ranging studies.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
The Rover is equipped with the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) to analyze the elemental composition near the landing site.
Photo Credit: ISRO
If Pragyan Rover and Vikram Lander survive the hard lunar conditions and actually wake up on 22 September 22, then that would be a miracle.