KSG Podcast - Second Mission to the Moon | Short Crisp Concise and Exam Oriented Edited Editorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usnj0XgIrZE&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=7
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - Second Mission to the Moon | Short Crisp Concise and Exam Oriented Edited Editorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usnj0XgIrZE&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=29
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

Watch: Chandrayaan-2 detects solar proton events: ISRO #spacetechnology #missionchandrayaan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toCkNcOy3-o

KSG Podcast - Second Mission to the Moon | Short Crisp Concise and Exam Oriented Edited Editorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usnj0XgIrZE&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=50
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

Watch: Chandrayaan-2 detects solar proton events: ISRO #spacetechnology #missionchandrayaan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toCkNcOy3-o&list=PLCUwtp5IghZlGtWhDAkuXVFs8MLdVey75&index=52
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

Today's Headlines - 08 August 2023
Chandrayaan enters moon orbit
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

TWENTY-THREE days after it left earth, Chandrayaan-3, aiming to become the first Indian spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon, entered lunar orbit, completing another milestone in its journey. This means that the spacecraft which had been moving towards the moon for the last five days — since it emerged out of its earth-bound orbit — has now begun to circle around the moon.

More about the Mission

MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity, said ISRO, putting words to what must only be an electronic signal from the spacecraft to the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC).
As of now, the spacecraft is in an elliptical orbit around the moon, that is 18,074 km from the lunar surface at its farthest and 164 km at the nearest.
This orbit altitude would be lowered progressively over the next few days, ultimately achieving a circular orbit of 100 km x 100 km, from which a final descent on the lunar surface is planned around 23 August 2023.
This is the third time that an Indian spacecraft has entered lunar orbit. The previous two Chandrayaan missions had also reached this phase.

Flashback

Chandrayaan-1 was only meant to be an orbiter, it did send out an instrument called Moon Impact Probe to crash land on the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-2 was supposed to make a soft landing but could not, faltering in the last few seconds of its journey.
Chandrayaan-3 has taken slightly less time to reach the lunar orbit compared to Chandrayaan-2, which reached this destination in 30 days. But Chandrayaan-3 will spend more time in the lunar orbit, before attempting the soft landing.
If the soft landing is successful, it will make India the fourth country in the world to do so after the US, Russia and China.
Chandrayaan-3 is attempting to become the first mission to land near the lunar south pole. Other missions have so far landed close to the moon’s equator.

#upsc #news #headline #chandrayaan #moon #orbit #space #technology #indian #spacecraft #softlanding #milestone #mission #ISRO #MOX #telemetry #tacking #network #ISTRAC #lunar

Today's Headlines - 12 August 2023
Russia’s Luna-25 mission
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

As the Chandrayaan-3 mission tightens its orbit around the Moon, Russia was launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on 11 August 2023. The Luna-25 mission is scheduled to land on the Moon on 23 August 2023, the same day as Chandrayaan-3’s planned landing.

More about Luna-25

Luna-25 was launched from the Vosthochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East less than a month after Chandrayaan-3 launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
The Russian mission will try to land on the lunar South Pole just like the Indian mission, aiming for a prized destination that may hold significant quantities of ice that could be used to extract oxygen and fuel in the future.
If either of the missions succeeds before the other, it will be the first one to land on the lunar South Pole in human history.
Roscosmos, Russia’s ISRO counterparts said that Luna-25 will practice soft-landing, analyse soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research on the Moon’s surface.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is carrying an orbiter, a lander and a rover. The lander and rover are carrying many scientific payloads.
This is Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976 when the country was part of the Soviet Union and it will be completed without equipment from the European Space Agency (ESA). ESA ended its cooperation with Roscosmos after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Luna-25 has a mass of 1.8 tons and carries 31 kilograms of scientific equipment, including some that it will use to take rock samples from up to a depth of 15 centimetres to test for the presence of water that could be used to support future crewed missions to the Moon.
The mission was originally scheduled to launch in October 2021 but was marred by many delays.
The Russian mission will take a lot less time to reach the Moon than Chandrayaan-3 because the latter is taking a longer route that takes advantage of the gravities of the Earth and the Moon to use a lot less fuel.
Russia willevacuate villagers from a village near the launch site due to a “one in a million chance” that one of the rocket stages that launches could fall to the Earth there.

#upsc #news #headline #russia #luna #mission #space #technology #chandrayaan #moon #spacecraft #vosthochny #cosmodrome #lunar #southpole #indianmission #oxygen #soil #history #land #human #orbiter #ESA #launch #gravaities #earth #october #rover #ISRO #fuel

Today's Headlines - 18 August 2023
Chandrayaan-3 lander separates from propulsion module
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

The Chandrayaan-3 lander, which carries within it the 26kh rover, separated from the propulsion module on 17 August 2023 for its onward journey to the surface of the moon on 23 August 2023. The lander module will descend further down from the current near-circular orbit of 153 x 163 km after a de-boosting manoeuvre.

What is Propulsion module

The propulsion module, meanwhile, will continue orbiting the moon and studying the spectral signatures of Earth using a payload that was tacked on to the mission in addition to the science experiments carried on board its predecessor.
By studying Earth from the moon, the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) will help scientists understand the markers of life on exoplanets.
Although the planned mission life for the propulsion module – which was added to the mission in place of the orbiter to help carry the lander rover to the moon – was three to six months, it is likely to keep functioning beyond that. Meanwhile, the Propulsion Module continues its journey in the current orbit for months/years.
Since the orbiter of Chandrayaan-2 had functioned normally and the instruments on board carried out all the observations and experiments as intended, there was no need to include an orbiter component to Chandrayaan-3.
More about lander module

However, the lander module still needed to be transported to lunar orbit, and the propulsion module had this limited task to perform.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission has been designed to achieve what Chandrayaan-2 could not – soft landing and roving on the surface of the moon.
After the separation, the instruments on board the lander, including the three scientific payloads, will be activated and tested to check whether everything is functioning normally.
The lander will carry out two orbit-reduction manoeuvres on its own, first getting into the circular 100 x 100 km orbit, and then further closer to the moon in the 100 x 30 km orbit.
This powered descent was described as “fifteen minutes of terror” by the previous Isro chief K Sivan.
Flashback

Chandrayaan-2 had crash-landed just kilometres from its intended landing spot due to flaws in the algorithm of the onboard navigation software.
The software did not provide for an immediate error-correction step when the engines produced a higher-than-intended thrust.
The algorithm was designed to make the corrections after performing a few other urgent tasks. But this allowed the errors to accumulate and become unmanageable.

#upsc #news #headline #chandrayaan #lander #propulsion #module #spacetechnology #moon #journey #signatures #earth #orbit #mission #softlanding #playloads #manoeuvres #terror #crashlanded #kilometres #error #correction #unmanagable

Today's Headlines - 21 August 2023
Russia’s Luna-25 crashes
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

Russia’s Moon mission ended in failure after its spacecraft Luna-25 spun out of control and crashed into the moon, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on 20 August 2023.

What happened to Luna-25?

Luna-25 was supposed to land on the Moon on 21 August 2023, days ahead of India’s Chandrayaan-3. Its intended landing site was close to Chandrayaan-3’s, near the lunar south pole.
The crash was confirmed a day after Roscosmos reported an “abnormal situation” which its specialists were analysing.
The space agency had said on 19 August 2023 that it had lost contact with the aircraft as it was shunted into pre-landing orbit.
On 19 August 2023, in accordance with the flight program of the Luna-25 spacecraft, an impulse was provided for the formation of its pre-landing elliptical orbit.
Communication with the Luna-25 spacecraft was interrupted. The measures taken on 19 and 20 August 2023 to search for the device and get into contact with it did not produce any results. According to the results of the preliminary analysis, due to the deviation of the actual parameters of the impulse from the calculated ones, the device switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface, Roscosmos said.
The space agency also said, A specially formed interdepartmental commission will deal with the issues of clarifying the reasons for the loss of the Moon [mission].
What was the Luna-25 mission?

Although launched on 10 August 2023, almost a month after Chandrayaan-3’s launch on 14 July, Luna-25 rode on a powerful rocket to reach the lunar orbit in just six days.
It was supposed to land on the lunar South Pole before Chandrayaan-3, and its success would have made Russia the first country to do so. Luna-25’s mission life was for one year, and its lift-off mass was 1,750 kg.
It did not carry a rover, but had eight payloads mainly to study the soil composition, dust particles in the polar exosphere, and most importantly detect surface water on the moon.
Significance

The failure of Luna-25 underlines how tricky soft-landings on the Moon are, and echoes India’s heartbreak of 2019.
Since 1976, there has been just one country, China, which has been successful in getting its spacecraft to soft land on the moon.
It has done that twice, with Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4. All other attempts in the last ten years, by India, Israel, Japan and now Russia, have remained unsuccessful.
If Chandrayaan-3 is able to land successfully, India would become just the fourth country in the world, after the United States, the erstwhile Soviet Union and China, to have landed a spacecraft on moon, and the first-ever to land close to the lunar south pole.

#upsc #news #headline #Russia #luna #crashes #space #technology #moonmission #failure #spacecraft #india #chandrayaan #aircraft #southpole #flight #situation #interdepartmental #comission #reasons #orbit #firstcountry #soilcomposition #particles #polar #exosphere #israel #japan #softland #world #india #states #soviet #china #southpole #rocket #collision #agency

CHANDRAYAAN - 3
TOUCHDOWN ON MOON
#Chandrayaan #moonmission #inspiration #jaihind #proudmoment

Today's Headlines - 24 August 2023
Vikram lander creates history
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

India became the first country to touch down on the lunar South Pole on 23 August 2023 as billions watched from around the globe. The Chandrayaan-3 lander - designed to deploy a smaller, 26-kg lunar rover - landed on the surface of the moon, marking a giant leap in India’s spacefaring journey.The Moon has captivated human curiosity for centuries, and with each new mission.

What is the Moon's geological history and evolution?

The Moon is estimated to be about 4.5 billion years old, roughly the same age as the Earth.
The leading theory about the Moon's formation suggests that a Mars-sized celestial body collided with the young Earth, and the debris from this collision eventually coalesced to form the lunar body.
However, current geological evidence from the Moon suggests that it may be younger by just 60 million years compared to Earth.
How much do things weigh on the Moon?

The Moon's gravitational pull is much weaker than Earth's, approximately one-sixth of Earth's gravity.
As a result, objects on the Moon weigh significantly less than they do on Earth. This is due to the Moon's smaller size and mass.
For example, a person weighing 68 kilograms on the Earth would weigh only over 11 kg on the Moon.
Why do Indian scientists want to land on the Moon's South Pole?

The lunar South Pole has become a focal point for exploration due to its unique features and potential scientific value.
It is believed to host a vast reservoir of water ice in permanently shadowed regions. The presence of water is of immense significance for future space exploration, as it can be converted into resources such as drinking water, oxygen and hydrogen for rocket fuel.
Also, the permanently sunlit area in the region has a temperature of around minus 50 to 10 degrees Celsius, which provides better chemical conditions for the electronics onboard the rover and lander to work properly.
What is in the lunar South Pole?

The terrain and geology at the Moon's South Pole are distinct from other regions. Permanently shadowed craters provide extremely cold conditions that allow water ice to accumulate and persist.
The unique geography of the South Pole also creates regions of perpetual sunlight, which can be harnessed for solar power.
The terrain varies from rugged landscapes to relatively flat plains, offering a diverse range of scientific opportunities.
Why is a region of the lunar South Pole permanently shadowed?

This depends on the Moon's geology. The Moon's axis is only slightly tilted relative to its orbit around the Earth.
This results in certain areas near the poles being in permanent shadow. These shadows create extremely cold environments where temperatures can plummet to very low levels.
These frigid conditions are conducive to preserving water ice for billions of years.

#upsc #news #headline #vikram #lander #history #spacetechnology #southpole #lunarrover #chandrayaan #centuries #moongeological #evolution #earth #collision #gravity #mass #scientists #waterice #hydrogen #chemicalconditions #landscapes #sunlight #environment #shadow #earthgravity

Today's Headlines - 25 August 2023
Experiments after Chandrayaan-3’s landing
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

After rolling down a ramp from the Chandrayaan-3 lander, the six-wheel, 26-kg rover, which is capable of slowly moving up to 500 metres, began its job of lunar exploration. The landing happened at lunar dawn, and the six payloads on board the lander and rover was started collecting data soon after to get as much science as possible in the single lunar day or 14 Earth days for which they will remain operable.

Mission experiments

The lander has four experiments on board.

The Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) will study the electrons and ions near the surface of the moon and how they change over time.
The Chandra’s Surface Thermo physical Experiment (ChaSTE) will study the thermal properties of the lunar surface near the polar region. Chandrayaan-3 has landed around 70 degree south latitude, the closest that any spacecraft has reached to the lunar South Pole.
The Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) will measure the lunar quakes near the landing site and study the composition of the Moon’s crust and mantle.
The LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA) is a passive experiment sent by NASA that acts as a target for lasers for very accurate measurements for future missions.
There are two scientific experiments on the rover

The LASER Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) will determine the chemical and mineral composition of the lunar surface.
The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) will determine the composition of elements such as magnesium, aluminium, silicon, potassium, calcium, titanium, and iron in the lunar soil and rocks.
Discovery of water

The southern polar region of the Moon is known to have deep craters that remain in permanent darkness, with a high likelihood of having water-ice.
Perhaps the most important discovery made by instruments on board Chandrayaan-1 was the discovery of water and hydroxyl (OH) molecules in the Moon’s thin atmosphere (exosphere) as well as on the lunar surface.
India’s Moon Impact Probe (MIP) — a payload that was deliberately crashed on the lunar surface near the South Pole — helped study the concentration of water and hydroxyl molecules in the lunar atmosphere.
Another payload called mini-SAR helped detect the subsurface deposits of water-ice in the permanently shadowed regions within the craters near the South Pole.
A third payload developed by NASA called Moon Mineralogy Mapper or M3 also helped detect these molecules on the surface of the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2, which was designed to further study the water on the Moon, helped in separately identifying the water and the hydroxyl molecules, and mapping water features across the Moon for the first time.

#upsc #news #headline #experiments #chandrayaan #landing #spacetechnology #exploration #lunardawn #missionexperiments #board #radio #anatomy #hypersensitive #atmosphere #RAMBHA #electrons #ChaSTE #latitude #southpole #ILSA #landingsite #LRA #NASA #LIBS #magnesium #aluminium #silicon #potassium #calcium #titanium #iron #lunarsoil #OH #MIP #miniSAR

The points can be used as ‘parking spots’ for spacecraft in space to remain in a fixed position with minimal fuel consumption.
They have been named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813), who was the first one to find the positions. So, between the Earth and the Sun, a satellite can occupy any of five Lagrangian points. “Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable and two are stable. The unstable Lagrange points – labelled L1, L2, and L3 – lie along the line connecting the two large masses. The stable Lagrange points – labelled L4 and L5 – form the apex of two equilateral triangles. The L4 and L5 are also called Trojan points and celestial bodies like asteroids are found here.

#upsc #news #headline #india #first #sun #observatory #launched #space #technology #ISRO #AdityaL1 #firstspace #mission #SatishDhawan #spacecentre #Sriharikota #softland #spacecraft #nearmoon #southpole #polar #satellite #launch #PSLV #workhouse #rocket #chandrayaan #Mangalyaan #boosters #synchronous #orbit #lowerearth #haloorbit #chromosphere #corona #plasma #spectrometer #trojan #point #asteroids