'Leaving Nothing to Chance': ISRO Chief Says Chandrayaan-3 to Attempt Safe Landing on Moon This Year

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New Delhi: All preparations are in place for India’s third mission to the moon. And, this time around, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is leaving no stone unturned to ensure its spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 makes a successful soft-landing on the lunar surface for the first time ever.

“Everything is set. The satellite is fully integrated,” said ISRO chief S Somanath as he talked about the mission that has been in the making for almost four years now.

ISRO’s expectations and goals for Chandrayaan-3 are the same as that of its previous mission — it will look to achieve what the agency could not with Chandrayaan-2 which took off in July 2019. Though the rocket lifted seamlessly from Sriharikota, it met with sudden failure after Lander Vikram crashed on the lunar surface minutes before the scheduled landing.

SECOND SHOT AT MOON LANDING

A successful attempt would have brought India into a select club of nations that have already achieved the feat — the US, Russia and China.

“We lost the Lander last time. So the Rover also could not come out of it to do all the experiments aboard — put probes into the soil and collect all sorts of data. This time, the main target is to do that final task successfully — make a safe landing on the moon so the rest of the process can proceed as planned,” said the senior scientist at the ongoing 108th Indian Science Congress.

From bringing in changes in the propulsion system as well as the software to adding new sensors aboard, ISRO is leaving nothing to chance this time around. “The lander has been rigorised to handle multiple failures in case there is any once the rocket takes off. We have tried to fix every unexpected problem, every process which in our mind could go wrong, including any algorithm issues that might occur. Now it is almost ready,” said the ISRO chairman.

The agency is confident of launching the much-awaited mission this year. With all preparations in place, it is now looking to finalise a suitable launch window, which usually falls in June-July. “All the necessary tests have been completed. We just need to select the best days, depending on the capability of the rocket,” said Somanath. ISRO has already readied its heaviest launcher GSLV Mk III for the launch.

WAIT FOR GAGANYAAN MIGHT GET LONGER

While Chandrayaan-3 is set for 2023, the scientists are also focussing on realising yet another big space dream — Gaganyaan. The launch of India’s first human spaceflight has been facing constant delays. The launch initially planned for 2022 has now been pushed to post-2024.

However, the ISRO chief said the mission is daunting and it could take more time than expected. “It is nothing like sending a satellite into space. We cannot take chances with human beings. So, we are going cautiously and carefully. It usually takes a long time, over 10 years, to develop human spaceflights capability. We did it in four years,” he added.

FOUR TEST ABORT MISSIONS, FIRST IN 2023
As many as four test abort missions have been planned to test all necessary operations before the final manned mission in 2024. The first unmanned flight is set for this year, two in 2024, and the final one a year after. These rockets will lift off to a certain height and test the systems which are critical to help the crew escape in case of any unexpected failure. If all goes right, ISRO will go ahead with its final mission.

But it could still take more years, added the ISRO chief.

“Primarily because our industrial ecosystem of manufacturing has not matured to a level where it can support us. One of the most important technologies is the Environment Control life support system for the crew. We wanted to procure it from outside — Russia or Europe — and build it but it was not easily available and came at an exorbitant cost. So we decided to build it in-house and that may take time,” he added. ​

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Srishti Chaudhary

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