Today, Wednesday, at 2:34 p.m. (Peninsular time), the descent module of the Chandrayaan-3 mission of the Indian space agency touched down on the lunar soil near the south pole of our satellite. In this way, India has become the fourth country capable of landing on the Moon (after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China) and the first to do so on the coveted lunar south pole, a region in which the existence of water ice inside some of its craters has been confirmed.
The final maneuver began about 20 minutes before landing, when those responsible for the mission activated the autonomous descent sequence. At that moment, the ship’s computers took over to identify a suitable place to land and to govern the engines and direct the trajectory.
This phase was, therefore, the most critical, and it had to work perfectly and in a totally unattended way. In fact, in 2019 the lander of India’s previous lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, veered off course during this maneuver and ended up crashing on the surface of the Moon.
At only 150 meters high, the ship slowed its descent, as planned, and remained motionless for a few moments in preparation for the final step.
The reception of the images of the descent and the confirmation of the landing was received with euphoria in the mission control center of the Indian space agency (ISRO). The country’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, tuned in from South Africa to live this historic moment live and to celebrate the success.
The Chandrayaan-3 descent module is equipped with various scientific instruments that will make it possible to study, among other characteristics, the emissions generated by the lunar soil, temperature variations, the existence of seismic movements and the composition of the crust and mantle. mole.
In addition, it includes a small explorer rover, called Pragyan (wisdom), weighing 26 kg, which will take very comprehensive data on the mineral composition of the surface.
In principle, both the lander and the rover are designed to operate for about two weeks, which is roughly the length of the lunar daylight period.
India’s success is even more relevant considering that, just three days ago, the Russian Luna-25 mission, which also intended to land on the lunar south pole, lost control and failed in its attempt to advance this historic milestone.
At the end of the last century, and based on the data collected by various satellites in lunar orbit, the existence of water ice began to be suspected at both poles, in craters where solar radiation never entered.
The presence of ice at the South Pole was finally confirmed in 2018 by NASA, thanks to data collected by one of its instruments on board India’s first lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter.
This discovery caused the southern polar region of the Moon to acquire a high strategic value. Water is essential to power future bases and can also be a source of fuel to power spacecraft from the Moon’s surface.
The mission was launched into space on July 14, and on August 5 the spacecraft entered lunar orbit as planned. During the following days, various impulses were carried out with the engines to gradually modify the orbits and make them progressively more optimal.
One of the most exciting moments came on August 17, when the Chandrayaan-3 lander separated from the orbiter. The module’s last orbit before landing consisted of an ellipse only 25 kilometers high at its closest to the surface and 134 kilometers at its furthest.
