CHANDRAYAAN-3 (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Sci and Tech)

Context: ISRO has received US's Aviation Week Laureates Award for its achievements in the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which made India the first country to land on Moon's south pole last year.

• In another achievement, International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved the name ‘Station Shiv Shakti’, the landing site, for planetary system nomenclature.

 Chandrayaan-3

• About: It is India's 3rd mission to the moon. It comes after Chandrayaan-2, which took place in 2019. 
• Objectives:

oTo demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface

oTo demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and

oTo conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

• Components of Chandrayaan-3

oPropulsion module (PM):  The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover from injection orbit to till 100 km lunar orbit.

oLander:  The Lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the Rover

oRover: To carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.

• Launched by: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3 –M4).
• Significance: India became the first nation to soft-land on the surface of the Lunar south pole and overall the fourth to do a soft landing on moon.
• Reason for Landing on South Pole:

oThe sides of some craters never receive any sunlight and can be as cold as just 40 degrees C above absolute zero.

oInterest in the lunar south pole as a landing site is mainly driven by the fact that scientists know the region hosts water in the form of ice.

oIt can act as a coolant for equipment and even provide rocket fuel. The latter could be especially useful for a staging mission to Mars launched from the moon someday.

oName of landing Site: Shiv Shakti Point.