Chandrayaan-3 – It is the third lunar or moon mission of India which was conducted by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Chandrayaan-3 contains the lander and the Pragyan rover that is similar to Chandrayaan-2 however it does not have an orbiter. The distance between Earth and Moon is about 384,000 km and the spacecraft has been effectively located in the trajectory so it will take to reach the surface of the moon.  Chandrayaan-3 contains a river called as Pragyan and a lander known as Vikram. The main work of a rover is to carry out several scientific experiments on the surface of the moon and the main work of a lander is to soft landing on the lunar’s surface. The propulsion module in the Chandrayaan-3 is to carry the lander and rover configurations until the spacecraft is in a 100 km lunar orbit. Previously Chandrayaan-3 entered the lunar orbit on August 5, 2023.

Earlier, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 on July 14, 2023, at 2:35 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is expected that the spacecraft will reach a soft landing near the south pole region on August 23, 2023. Today, Chandrayaan-3 may probably land on the surface of the moon at about 6:04 pm as per ISRO. If the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission is successful then India become the first country to land on the south polar region of the moon.

Components of Chandrayaan-3 – There are three main components of Chandrayaan-3 are discussed below –

1. Lander – The main work of a lander in spacecraft is to soft landing on the surface of the moon. Lander is box-shaped with landing legs and landing thrusters of 800 newtons each and will be responsible for carrying the rover and several scientific instruments to perform in-site examination or analysis. The lander in Chandrayaan-3 is called as Vikram Lander which will have four throttle-able engines with thrust valve slew rate changing abilities. The lander of Chandrayaan-3 is equipped with an LDV (Laser Doppler Velocimeter). Is used to measure attitude in 3 directions.
2. Propulsion module – The main work of the propulsion module is to carry the lander and rover configurations to a 100 km lunar orbit. The propulsion module is a box-like structure that contains one large solar panel which is mounted on one side and a big cylinder on top which acts as a mounting structure for the lander.
3. Rover – It is also known as a planetary rover, is a terrestrial or planetary surface examination device that is designed for moving across the solid surface of a planet and several other planetary mass heavenly bodies. The rover of Chandrayaan-3 is called as Pragyan and works is to carry out several scientific experiments on the surface of the moon.

Objectives of Chandrayaan-3 rover – The main objectives of Chandrayaan-3 rover are given below –

1. The presence of water in the moon soil.
2. History of Moon impacts
3. The composition of the Moon’s surface
4. The evolution of the lunar’s atmosphere.