India and Russia’s Moon missions

16 Aug 2023 6 mins Download PDF

India and Russia’s Moon missions

Why in the News?

Russia has launched a mission to the moon name Luna-25 that could land on the moon days before Chandrayaan-3 in the Lunar South Pole, likely to take away the title of the first country soft -land close to the South Pole

Why is Russia reaching the moon earlier than India?

1. Luna-25 was launched in Soyuz rocket almost a month after the launch of Chandrayaan-3.
2. The reason for less time to cover the 3.84-lakh-km journey to lunar surface within days is because of a more direct trajectory followed towards the moon due to its lighter payload and more fuel storage.
   1. The lift-off mass for Luna 25 is just 1,750 kg while that of Chandrayaan-3 was 3,900 kg.
3. Chandrayaan-3 followed a a more circuitous route to make up for the lower fuel reserve available on the LVM3 vehicle.
4. Another reason for early landing of Luna-25 is because lunar dawn at its landing site will happen earlier compared to Chandrayaan-3 landing site.

Differences between Chandrayaan-3 and Luna-25:

	Chandrayaan-3	Luna-25
1.	has a rover capable of moving around 500 metres	does not carry a rover
2.	Mission life is 14 days because it doesn’t have heating mechanism to keep the electronics safe from the extreme cold temperatures during the lunar night.	Mission life is 1 year because it has heating mechanism as well as a power source other than just solar panels.
3.	Follow a trajectory consisting of Earth-bound manoeuvres Lunar transfer trajectory Moon- bound manoeuvres	Follows nearly a direct directory to the moon.
4.	Lift-off mass is ~3900 kg	Lift-off mass is ~1750kg

About: Chandrayaan-3:

1. 1. The spacecraft has been launched to demonstrate
      1. An end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
      2. New technologies required for Inter planetary missions.
      3. Conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
   2. Launcher: GSLV-Mk3 which will place the integrated module (PM, LM & RM) into the Elliptical parking Orbit (EPO)
   3. It consists of 3 indigenous modules
      1. Propulsion module (PM) – carries the Lunar Module from launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100 km circular Lunar orbit.
      2. Lander module (LM) – Rover is present inside the Lander.

Several Lander special tests carried out in earth conditions include:

1. 1. 2. 1. 1. Integrated cold test
            2. Integrated Hot test
            3. Lander Leg Mechanism
      3. Rover Module (RM)