Above: Chandrayaan-3 on launch pad
Mission Details
| Mission Name: Chandrayaan-3 |
| COSPAR: 2023-098A |
| NORAD: N/A |
| Mission Type: Lunar Orbiter; Lander |
| Operator: ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) |
| Launching State: India |
| Location: Statio Shiv Shakti |
| Latitude: 69.3741 ˚ S |
| Longitude: 32.32 ˚ E |
| Launch Date: 14 July 2023, 9:05:17 UT |
| Landing Date: 23 August 2023, 12:33 UT |
| End Date: 4 September 2023 |
| Objects on or Related to Site: Pragyan Rover |
| Image Source: All: ISRO.gov.in |
Description
According to the ISRO, the mission of Chandrayaan-3 was three-fold: to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface; to demonstrate the ability to deploy and control a rover on the Moon; and to conduct scientific experiments.
Chandrayaan-3 launched on the LVM-3 heavy launch vehicle from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center on 14 July 2023. The payload consisted of an additional propulsion module (PM) and a lander module (LM) with rover. The lander successfully conducted a soft landing on 23 August, with the rover deploying the following day on 24 August. Both conducted various scientific experiments, before entering sleep mode on September 4th. The propulsion module conducted an additional burn, exiting lunar orbit and entering high Earth orbit by November 10th.
Read more:
www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan-3.html
Below: Vikram Lander, as viewed from the Pragyan Rover
Heritage Consideration
Chandrayaan-3 represented India’s first successful soft landing of any spacecraft on another celestial body. Until Intuitive Machines’ successful landing in February of 2024, Chandrayaan-3 laid claim to the closest landing to the lunar south pole.
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Pragyan Rover | |
| Location: Exact location unknown or undisclosed, in vicinity of Vikram lander module. | |
| Deployment: 24 August 2023 | |
| End Date: 4 September 2023 | |
| Function: Technological demonstration, spectroscopy | |
| Image Source: ISRO.gov.in |
Description
The Pragyan rover weighs about 26 kg, and is 0.9m x 0.75m x 0.85m. It has six wheels, each individually powered, and mounted in a rocker-bogie suspension configuration.
The rover was equipped with two navigation cameras, which could be used in tandem to generate 3D imagery.
The rover carried two scientific payloads: the LASER Induced Breakdown Spectroscope and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer. Both were designed to analyze the composition of lunar regolith and rock.
