Mint explainer: AI's role in powering space missions like Chandrayaan-3
NEW DELHI : Indians were over the Moon with the launch of Chandrayaan-3 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday. Since Chandrayaan-2 failed about four years ago, scientists are hopeful that this third lunar mission's lander Vikram and rover Pragyaan will descend softly and safely on the Moon on 23 August.
If the mission succeeds, India will become the fourth country to achieve this feat after the US, Russia (when it was part of the erstwhile Soviet Union), and China. Further, India would also become the first country to land at the lunar south pole, an area that interests space agencies and private space companies because the discovery of water ice (which will yield hydrogen and oxygen) could provide air and potential fuel.
And artificial intelligence (AI) has a major role to play in such missions. For instance, even Chandrayaan-2 had planned to use the AI-powered 'Pragyan' (wisdom in Sanskrit)—a homegrown solar-powered robotic vehicle that would manoeuvre the lunar surface on six wheels.
It comprised a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) from the Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems (LEOS) in Bengaluru to identify elements present near the landing site, and an Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope (APIXS) from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad that would have inspected the composition of the elements near the landing site. Pragyan, which can communicate only with the Lander, included a piece of motion technology developed by IIT-Kanpur researchers that would help the rover manoeuvre on the surface of the moon and aid in landing.
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