More than three months ago, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved a major success in landing the Vikram lander safely on the surface of the moon. India thus became the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the moon, which further ignited India's interest in space exploration. But as it turned out, it wasn't"Chandrayaan-3"The end of the mission. In a surprising announcement released on Monday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that it had successfully returned the propulsion module used by the spacecraft to a high orbit around the Earth.
The ISRO said in a statement that the experimental phase of the mission tested key capabilities needed for future lunar missions, including the possibility of returning lunar rocks to Earth.
The main task of the propulsion module is to send the Vikram 3 lander into a low lunar orbit 100 kilometers above the lunar surface. After completing this mission in August, the propulsion module entered a circumlunar orbit at an altitude of 150 kilometers. There, the rest of its operational goal is to support a scientific experiment called Shape to observe the Earth.
However, after a month in this orbit, the Indian mission operator found that the spacecraft still had more than 100 kilograms of propellant in reserve. The propulsion module is powered by a methylhydrazine and nitric oxide-based oxidizer and carries 1696 kg of fuel and oxidizer at launch, with the remaining propellant increasing the possibility of additional maneuvers.
Engineers know that the Shape mission can observe the Earth's atmosphere from another orbit. By looking at Earth from a distance, this innovative scientific experiment seeks to set a baseline for the atmospheric characteristics of exoplanets that may support life. Therefore, Indian engineers reasoned that it would be better to prove that their spacecraft is capable of returning to Earth orbit.
The Indian Space Agency said on Monday"We decided to use the available fuel in the spacecraft to get more information for future lunar missions and demonstrate operational strategies for sample return missions. "
Return to Earth orbit
On October 9, the propulsion module raised the lunar orbit from 150 kilometers to 5,112 kilometers, and four days later it burned its engines again and began to detach from the lunar orbit. In a new orbit around the Earth, the propulsion module reached perigee for the first time on November 22, less than 154,000 kilometers from the Earth's surface. Over time, the orbit will change, with a minimum perigee of 115000 km. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that such a high orbit would not threaten any operational satellites around the Earth. It's also a good orbit where the Shape payload can continue to observe the Earth's atmosphere.
The Chandrayaan 3 spacecraft returned to Earth orbit.
What's next?
In addition to the joint implementation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)."Lunar polar exploration missions"In addition, India has not announced its future lunar program. The mission is scheduled to carry a lunar lander and rover to the moon's south pole later this decade, but no earlier than 2026.
However, the lunar sample return mission seems to be a good option for the future. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with the help of astronauts, returned about 800 pounds of rock during the Apollo mission. In the 70s of the 20th century, the Soviet Union completed three robotic sample return missions, and China's Chang'e-5 lunar lander brought back samples three years ago.
Given the collapse of the Soviet Union and the lackluster Russian missions outside of low-Earth orbit, India now has the world's third-most advanced deep space exploration program.