Chandrayaan-3’s ‘failure-based design’ is key to its Moon landing; here’s what it is

Chandrayaan-3’s Moon landing: As the big day inches near, suspense over Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission’s landing has gripped the nation. ISRO’s mission to the Moon is expected to culminate on August 23 at 6:04 pm, after it starts making a powered descent at around 5:45 pm. 

Naturally, wishes are pouring in from every corner. And not only in India, all eyes globally are on the Chandrayaan-3 mission, especially since Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon. 

There are good reasons to believe that Chandrayaan-3 will not meet the same fate as its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2. One of the key reasons being its ‘failure-based design’ as opposed to Chandrayaan-2’s ‘success-based design’. 

WHAT IS CHANDRAYAAN-3’S FAILURE-BASED DESIGN?

To put it simply, ISRO incorporated the ‘failure-based design’ that focuses on potential failure scenarios and how to protect the mission against adversities to ensure a successful and safe landing. 

ISRO Chief S Somanath had said that Chandrayaan-2’s lander’s five engines produced more thrust than expected that led to a bunch of errors. The craft then sped up to correct its course. Moreover, the specific 500x500 sq mt area where it was supposed to land was a very small region. The spacecraft’s ability to turn got limited and the landing became a high-velocity one.

With Chandrayaan-3, the landing area has been expanded to 4km x 2.5km. This gives the spacecraft a bigger area to land if things go haywire. Chandrayaan-3 has also been equipped with more fuel so that it can move on to an alternate landing site if required. 

Chandrayaan-3 also has more solar panels so that it can ensure power generation irrespective of how it lands. The vertical velocity component has also been increased from 2 meters per second to 3 meters per second.

The landing process has also been made easier. Chandrayaan-3 will not be making calculations to find the landing spot. Any correction to avoid objects larger than 30 cm will be made at the landing spot. 

ALL ABOUT CHANDRAYAAN-3

India’s follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3 aims to safely land and rove the lunar surface. The mission consists of lander Vikram and rover Pragyan. The mission with a lander module, propulsion module and the rover, has an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions. 

The lander will ensure the soft landing, after which the rover will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface. 

Chandrayaan-3’s mission objectives are as follows:

• Demonstrate a safe soft-landing on the lunar surface
• The rover will rove on the Moon
• Conduct in-situ scientific experiments

(With India Today inputs)

Also watch: Why Russia's Moon mission Luna-25 failed and will India's Chandrayaan-3 succeed?

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