Chandrayaan probe finds sparse plasma on moon

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) put out samples of data collected from the Moon by three more instruments.
• Chandrayaan-3 is carrying seven scientific payloads, four installed on the lander, two on rover, and one on the propulsion module that is going around the Moon in an orbit.

Key Findings

• The seventh instrument, called LASER Retroreflector Array, is a set of mirrors that will remain on the Moon for much longer duration.
• It does not collect any data on its own but is meant to reflect laser beams fired from Earth.
• Scientists use these kinds of experiments to accurately measure the distance of the Moon from the Earth.
• RAMBHA or Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere is meant to measure the plasma density (concentration of ions and electrons) near the lunar surface.
• It indicated that the plasma near the lunar surface was “relatively sparse”.
• The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope, or APXS, installed on the rover, detected signals of the presence of Sulphur and other minor elements.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission

• It is India's third lunar mission and second attempt at achieving a soft landing on the moon's surface.
• The mission took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) in Sriharikota on July 14, 2023.
• Objectives
  • To demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface
  • To demonstrate Rover roving on the moon
  • To conduct in-situ scientific experiments
• Components
  • Indigenous Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM) and a Rover.
  • The lander (Vikram) and rover payloads (Pragyan) of Chandrayaan-3 remain the same as the Chandrayaan-2 mission.
  • The lander and the rover will have a mission life of one lunar day (about 14 Earth days) as they work on solar energy.
• Launch Vehicle: The LVM3 M4 launcher has been successfully utilized to launch Chandrayaan-3

Payloads

• The scientific payloads on the lander aim to study various aspects of the lunar environment.
• These payloads include studying lunar quakes, thermal properties of the lunar surface, changes in plasma near the surface and accurately measuring the distance between Earth and the moon.
• The propulsion module of Chandrayaan-3 features a new experiment called Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE).
  • SHAPE aims to search for smaller planets with potential habitability by analyzing reflected light.

Prelims Takeaway

• Chandrayaan-3
• RAMBHA