Piercing through the Sky

Image source: ISRO

Chandrayaan 3 was launched yesterday (14/07/23, 14:35 IST) by the Indian Space Research Organization. It was indeed a fulfilling experience to watch our country's yet another pride as it pierced through the sky signifying the limitless capability of the human brain and scientific technology. The countdown would have held the breath of every Indian watching it, either online or at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Students from many schools and colleges in the country witnessed the live launch.

Chandrayaan 3 as stated by the ISRO chairman S Somnath is a failure-based model rather than a success-based model. The team has taken into consideration everything that can possibly fail and then designed it accordingly to eliminate the flaws. This mission is advanced to the previous two in the sense that along with a safe take-off and clean exit from the Earth's orbit, it is also planned to perform a soft landing on the lunar surface. It also consists of a Rover that will come out of the lander and move over the surface of the moon in order to analyze it. 

The Lunar surface is studied through the analysis of elements on it. This is done with the help of spectroscopic and polarimetric techniques. When light comes in contact with any form of matter, it produces signals depending upon whether the light is emitted, absorbed or scattered by the particles in the matter. These signals are specific for certain elements and thus help in identifying what the material is made of. Lasers are used as light sources in these advanced spectroscopic techniques. Polarimetry is concerned with the direction in which light bends on coming in contact with matter, it helps in studying several physical aspects of the material.

The lander would be landing over the Lunar south pole for its unique composition and presence of ice water. The lander and rover will generate electricity for their movement with the help of the solar panels built over it. The landing on the moon is calculated such that the Sun's rays would directly fall on the panels for a period of 14 days. 

The complex programming, navigating parameters, precise calculations, accurate designing and working, propulsion composition are all a huge effort of teams of scientists, Engineers, technicians, belonging to several institutes in the country. It's really mind boggling to just imagine the process: sending out something from the Earth with the help of kilotons of explosives burning away per minute, to travel to thousands of miles straight upward until it starts moving around the orbit, followed by its insertion into the orbit of moon which is almost 2 lakh miles away from the Earth, its smooth landing over the farther portion of the moon and continuous monitoring of the parameters and the data received from it. But there are people and the technology they have built that makes this happen. 

©Neha Kanase