The upcoming Chandrayaan-3 mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is scheduled to take off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, at 2.35 PM IST on Friday, July 14.
The mission follows Chandrayaan-2 where scientists aim to demonstrate various capabilities including reaching the orbit of the moon, making a soft-landing on the lunar surface using a lander, and a rover coming out of the lander to study the surface of the moon.
Lucknow's Ritu Karidhal is the mission director of Chandrayaan-3 mission. She was also a part of Mangalyaan space mission and served as the deputy director of the MARS mission. She is also called as the ‘Rocket Woman of India’.
The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are:1. To demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface2. To demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and3. To conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
Mission Life (Lander & Rover) - One lunar day (~14 Earth days)
Mass: Propulsion Module - 2148 kg; Lander Module: 1752 kg including Rover of 26 kg. Total: 3900 kg
Power generation - Propulsion Module: 758 W; Lander Module: 738W, WS with Bias; Rover: 50W
Payloads: 3
Dimensions (mm3) - 2000 x 2000 x 1166
Communication: ISDN, Ch-2 Orbiter
Rover Landing Site: 4 km x 2.4 km 69.367621 S, 32.348126 E