India’s Lunar Mission: How Chandrayaan-3 Is Better Than Chandrayaan-2

Four years after it disappointed crores of Indians, Chandrayaan is all set to fly to the moon for the third time, in an attempt to enter an elite club of nations that accomplished lunar missions with a soft landing.

This is a follow-up to the second lunar mission Chandrayaan- 2, which was launched on September 7, 2019. The mission also focused on mapping the lunar surface for tracing the moon's origin and evolution, but the mission failed just 400 meters off the lunar surface before the rocket touched down.

However, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a new version of its lunar mission, to make India the first country to soft-land near the moon's south pole. As the launch date approaches, let's look at the reasons why Chandrayaan-3 has a high chance of success.

Chandrayaan- 3 will not have an orbiter like the previous one but will have a lander and a rover. Secondly, the Vikram lander has increased its fuel capacity to deal with unexpected disruptions. The supplementary fuel will work on its safety, it will aid the lander to return if required.

Moreover, to boost power generation capabilities, the space agency has extended the solar panels and increased the panel area on the lander. This will help to generate power even if it lands in another orientation or is directed away from the sun.

Scientists at ISRO have also studied in detail the reasons for the failure of the earlier mission to improve the chances of success this time around. In 2019, the mission was unsuccessful when the space agency got disconnected from the Vikram lander, which was supposed to make contact with the moon's surface. The lander crashed as it was tilted at 410 degrees instead of 55 degrees. The moment Vikram Lander lost the connection, scientists knew there was a slim chance of its survival.

According to ISRO scientists, the velocity of the Vikram lander was supposed to slow down from 6000 kmph to 0 kmph in four phases, but they lost contact just before its landing. The software also suffered a software glitch which led to a communication break with the lander. Because of all these factors the Vikram lander along with the rover, Pragyan crash-landed on the moon.

Therefore, ISRO scientists developed the rocket this time, with an indigenous Lander module, a Propulsion module, and a Rover to ensure a successful mission. The Lander also can soft-land at a specified lunar site and deploy the Rover, which will carry out in-situ chemicals. In addition, ISRO has strengthened the lander's legs, lowered its minimum thrust, boosted the power availability, and improvised the landing sequence.

All eyes are on now on Friday's space launch and if India can stake a claim as a space power.