ISRO successfully completes 'launch rehearsal", stage set for Chandrayaan-3's lunar mission
ISRO announced on Monday that it has successfully completed the «launch rehearsal» for India's third moon mission, setting the stage for the countdown which is set to begin on July 14. Scheduled for 2.50 p.m. on July 14, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft will embark on a its lunar journey after being deployed by the LVM3 rocket.
It is projected to reach the lunar surface on August 23 or 24, following a distance of approximately 384,000 kilometers. Comprising a propulsion module weighing 2,148 kg, a lander weighing 1,723.89 kg, and a rover weighing 26 kg, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has a primary objective of safely landing the lander on the moon's soil. Once landed, the rover will conduct experiments, while the propulsion module will carry payloads for three to six months after the lander's ejection.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) revealed the scientific instruments onboard. The propulsion module is equipped with the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload, intended for studying Earth's spectral and polarimetric measurements from the lunar orbit. The lander payloads include the Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) for thermal conductivity and temperature measurement, the Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) for studying seismicity around the landing site, and the Langmuir Probe (LP) for estimating plasma density and variations.
The rover carries the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) to analyze the elemental composition near the landing site. The mission encompasses three phases: Earth-centric, Lunar Transfer, and Moon Centric. In the Earth-centric phase, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft will be carried by the LVM3
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