Astronomical news update: The Propulsion Module (PM) of Chandrayaan-3 has successfully made its way back to Earth’s orbit. This spacecraft was launched on LVM3-M4 vehicle from SDSC SHAR on 14 July 2023. On 23 August, the Vikram Lander made a historic landing on the Moon and deployed the Pragyan Rover. Both the lander and rover were operated continuously for 1 lunar day (14 Earth days).
ISRO has accomplished another significant milestone with the successful return of Chandrayaan-3’s Propulsion Module (PM) to Earth’s orbit. In a unique experiment, the PM was brought back from the lunar orbit to Earth’s orbit, marking yet another achievement for ISRO.
The spacecraft was launched on July 14, 2023, using the LVM3-M4 vehicle from SDSC, SHAR. On August 23, the Vikram lander made a historic landing on the Moon, followed by the deployment of the Pragyan rover. Both the lander and rover operated continuously for 1 lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days. The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 have been successfully fulfilled.
What was the aim of the Chandrayaan-3 expedition?
The main goal of the Chandrayaan-3 mission was to showcase a gentle landing in the southern polar area of the Moon with the aid of Vikram and Pragyan. Meanwhile, the Propulsion Module’s primary aim was to ferry the lander module from the Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) to the ultimate lunar polar circular orbit and detach the lander. Following the separation, the PM also carried out the Spectro-Polarimetry of the Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload.
There is an abundance of fuel exceeding 100 kilograms available.
The original intention was to utilize this payload for about three months throughout the PM’s mission duration. The accurate orbital injection performed by LVM3 led to an excess of over 100 kg of fuel remaining in the PM after operating in lunar orbit for over a month. Consequently, it was determined that the remaining fuel in the PM would be utilized to gather supplementary data for upcoming lunar missions and to showcase mission operation strategies for a sample return mission. In order to continue accommodating the SHAPE payload, the decision was made to reintroduce the PM into a suitable Earth orbit.
What advantages will be gained from this?
The mission plan was carefully crafted to prioritize collision avoidance, ensuring that the PM does not collide with the lunar surface or enter orbits below 36000 km in the Earth’s GEO belt. As per the plan, the SHAPE payload is activated whenever Earth is within its range of vision. Furthermore, a unique operation of the SHAPE payload took place during the solar eclipse on October 28, 2023. The operations of the SHAPE payload will persist in the future.