Chandrayaan-3 Launch: How ISRO's Third Lunar Mission Is Different From Chandrayaan-2

Chandrayaan-3, the upcoming lunar mission from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is scheduled to lift off on July 14 at 2:35pm IST. This will be ISRO's third mission to the Moon. Chandrayaan-3 will be launched in the coming days as the successor to Chandrayaan-2, which was sent towards the lunar surface approximate four years ago, on July 22, 2019. Unfortunately, the previous lunar mission faced partial failure due to it crash-landing on the surface of the Moon.

While most of the functions and goals of the two missions are similar, ISRO has made a few changes to Chandrayaan-3 in order to avoid the mistakes that led to the partial failure of Chandrayaan-2.

Chandrayaan 3 mission details

As mentioned above, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is now scheduled to lift-off on July 14 at 2:35 pm from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The mission will be launched by Launch Vehicle Mark-III. The lander of Chandrayaan-3 is expected to soft-land on the surface of the Moon on August 23 or 24, nine days after the launch. 

The lander on Chandrayaan-3 will aim to soft land at a specified lunar site, while the rover's responsibility will be to conduct on-site chemical analysis of the lunar surface. The mission will last for one lunar day, which is equivalent to 14 days on Earth.

Chandrayaan-2 vs Chandrayaan-3: The differences

The Chandrayaan-2 comprised an Orbiter, Vikram Lander, and Pragyan Rover, whereas the Chandrayaan-3 consists of a Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM), and a Rover. It carries a payload called Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE), equipped with the propulsion model. The orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 will be used for the upcoming mission.

As ISRO stated, the Chandrayaan-3 will get two lander hazard detection and avoidance cameras as compared to Chandrayaan-2, which only carried one such camera, and Chandrayaan-3's cameras are designed to be more robust than its predecessor.

The space organisation has also conducted lander leg mechanism performance test on Chandrayaan-3 to ensure the strength of the legs.