By 
June 25th, 2023
Image credit: ISRO
India is readying its Chandrayaan-3 Moon lander, reportedly eyeing a launch in mid-July.
The lunar lander is equipped with scientific payloads and a small rover, geared to conduct studies of the lunar surface in the southern lunar hemisphere. This upcoming mission is similar to Chandrayaan-2 which failed in 2019 when the program’s Vikram lander crashed during an automated soft landing.
Image credit: ISRO
India’s launch vehicle, the Mark III (GSLV Mk III).
Credit: ISRO
ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization, is using the country’s GSLV Mark 3 heavy lift booster to lob Chandrayaan-3 moonward from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. Reports have liftoff slated in a July 12-19 time period.
Target: south polar region
The probe’s propulsion module will place the lander/rover into a circular polar lunar orbit and separate.
Following separation of the lander module, the propulsion module is to run a Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload, an experiment that will study the Earth from lunar orbit. Also, the propulsion module, by remaining in orbit around the Moon, will serve as a communications relay satellite.
The lander/rover combination is targeted for a soft touchdown at the south polar region of the Moon, reportedly near 69.37 S, 32.35 E.
Image credit: ISRO
Lander/rover payloads
According to the ISRO, the lander payloads are:
Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure the thermal conductivity and temperature;
Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) for measuring the seismicity around the landing site;
Langmuir Probe (LP) to estimate the plasma density and its variations.
A passive Laser Retroreflector Array from NASA is accommodated for lunar laser ranging studies.
Image credit: ISRO
Rover payloads are an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving the elemental composition of the lunar terrain in the vicinity of landing site.
The lander and rover are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days).
Signing the Artemis Accords
In a related development, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, and Indian Space Research Organization, Space Counsellor, Krunal Joshi, signed on June 21 the Artemis Accords, which establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s Artemis program. India is the 27th signatory.
Ceremony with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Indian Ambassador Taranjit Sandhu, as India signs the Artemis Accords. U.S. Department of State, Deputy Assistant Secretary for India, Nancy Jackson, left, Space Counsellor, Krunal Joshi right, look on.
Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
According to the U.S. State Department, the Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, and are a set of non-legally binding principles to guide sustainable civil space exploration. These principles, which include transparency, peaceful purposes, registering of space objects and release of scientific data, help make the space environment safer and more predictable, and allow all nations – even those without space programs – to benefit from the scientific data obtained in space.
The Artemis Accords signatories are now: Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Posted in Space News
