Jakarta –
India’s Moon exploration mission is entering a new phase. After sending the Chandrayaan-3 rocket in August 2023, the rocket has now returned to Earth.
Recently, on December 4 2023, ISRO or the Indian Space Research Organization announced the return of Chandrayaan-3. ISRO said it has moved the Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module out of lunar orbit.
The propulsion module is a component of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, is box-shaped, and is powered by solar panels, as quoted from Space.
Now, the module is placed high above Earth, for an additional mission to circle this green planet every two weeks.
ISRO said that this new experiment will demonstrate technology that will help scientists one day bring samples from the Moon to Earth.
With remaining fuel, the module is only 154 thousand km from Earth
On November 22, 2023, the propulsion module reached its closest point to Earth, which is 154,000 kilometers from the planet’s surface.
ISRO considers that the altitude is still high enough so that it is still safe to stay away and avoid collisions with other satellites.
“As per current orbit predictions, there is no threat of close approach with operational satellites orbiting Earth,” ISRO said on the Space website.
This additional mission utilizes the remaining fuel. At the end of one lunar day, or about one month on earth, the module has 100 kilograms of fuel remaining.
By then, the primary objective of the mission had been achieved so ISRO decided to bring it back to Earth.
As of now, ISRO has not revealed what it will do with the spacecraft if its fuel runs out.
According to Mila Mitra, founder of Stem and Space or a space education company in New Delhi, this experiment will bring ISRO one step closer to Chandrayaan-3’s return mission.
“This experiment is important because it promises a lot for bringing back manned missions and space samples and also for future interplanetary missions,” said Mitra, quoted from BBC News India.
What’s more, when the module ran out of fuel it was initially thought that it would fall to the moon as debris forever. By bringing it back, ISRO has addressed this important issue.
Main Mission Completed, Do Additional Missions to Study Earth
For information, at the beginning of this year, the propulsion module completed its main task of placing the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover robot in orbit near the Moon, before they land on the Moon’s south pole in August 2023.
After landing, Pragyan, a solar-powered six-wheeled rover robot, discovered valuable scientific data, namely the sulfur contained in the Moon’s soil.
These findings reveal insights regarding the volcanic past of the Moon which will later help develop space infrastructure.
In addition, the Vikram lander robot has made the first measurements made using a thermometer-like device on the temperature of the soil on the Moon.
After conducting exploration, the two robots were in ‘sleep’ mode in September to get through the long and cold lunar night.
Returning to the propulsion module, after sending the two robots the module was then moved to a slightly higher orbit around the moon to study our planet to help search for Earth-like exoplanets.
In early October, the module was upgraded from a position of 150 kilometers to more than 5,000 kilometers above the lunar surface.
The goal is of course to gain the momentum needed to return to Earth, so that it rotates around the moon 4 times before returning home.
By positioning the module in near-Earth orbit, ISRO said “The Chandrayaan-3 mission objectives have been fully met.”
Watch the video “This is what India found on the moon”
(does/does)
2023-12-13 11:30:00
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