India's Chandrayaan-3 aims for safe moon landing with innovative 'Failure-Based Design' approach

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is set to mark its second attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon with the launch of Chandrayaan-3 on Friday (July 14). Earlier in 2019, Chandrayaan-2's lander and rover crashed onto the moon's surface as a result of issues that had appeared during the last stage of the descent.

The countdown for the historic mission began. In a tweet on Thursday (July 13), ISRO wrote, "The countdown leading to the launch tomorrow at 14:35:17 Hrs. IST has commenced".

All you need to know about Chandrayaan-3 mission to the moon

Following the crash-landing of Chandrayaan-2 in September 2019 due to a software error, Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up mission. Chandrayaan-3 has various upgrades that ISRO learned from Chandrayaan-2 to guarantee success this time. On August 23, it will reportedly touch down on the Moon.

Chandrayaan-3 is made up of a lander module, a rover, and an indigenous propulsion module with the aim of developing and showcasing new technologies needed for interplanetary missions. The lander and rover will be propelled by the propulsion module from injection orbit to a 100 km lunar orbit. In order to examine the spectral and polarimetric measurements of the earth from the lunar orbit, it also carries a payload called Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planetary Earth (SHAPE).

Failure-based design of Chandrayaan-3

If the mission is successful, India will join a select group of countries that have accomplished this accomplishment, including the United States, China, and the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Ahead of India's ambitious Chandrayaan-3 space programme, former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan stated on Thursday that if the mission is successful, it will make India the fourth country to do this, increasing the potential for space research growth in the nation. "This will also help India boost its share in the global space business. Currently, India's share in the $600 billion industry is an abysmal 2 percent", he told the reporters.

ISRO Chairman S Somanath said instead of a success-based design in Chandrayaan-2, the space agency opted for a failure-based design in Chandrayaan-3, focused on what all can fail and how to protect it and ensure a successful landing.

Lander hazard detection and avoidance cameras

Chandrayaan-3 will launch with merely a lander and a rover as opposed to Chandrayaan-2's combination of the Vikram lander, Pragyan rover, and an orbiter. According to reports, Chandrayaan-3 would employ the Orbiter that was launched with Chandrayaan-2 and is now circling the Moon to fulfill its communication and terrain imaging needs.

"Lander hazard detection and avoidance cameras" are a feature of the Chandrayaan-3 lander mission that allows for communication with the orbiter and mission control throughout the Moon landing procedure.

How powerful is Chandrayaan 3?

SRO chief shared that the area of landing has been expanded from 500m x 500m to four km by 2.5 km. "It can land anywhere, so it doesn't limit you to target a specific point. It will target a specific point only in nominal conditions. So, if the performance is poor, it can land anywhere within that area," he said.

He said the Chandrayaan-3 also has more fuel so it has more capability to travel or handle dispersion or move to an alternate landing site. The ISRO chief said the Vikram lander now has additional solar panels on other surfaces to ensure that it generates power no matter how it lands.