BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which failed to land a probe on the Moon in its first attempt in September 2019 (Chandrayaan-2), has begun work on Chandrayaan-3 with a deadline of November 2020, sources said.<snip>The new mission will include only a lander and rover, as the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is functioning well.<snip>Another scientist said among the top priority for the new mission is “strengthening the legs of the lander”, so that it allows landing even with a high velocity.<snip>A source said Isro teams are looking at having a detachable module that will carry fuel. “Tentatively called the propulsion module, it will help in taking the landing module — which will have the rover sitting inside the lander — to the lunar orbit.
Due to not having to carry an orbiter, it may be possible that a GSLV Mk.II could be used, like what was original planned for Chandrayaan 2.
A source said Isro teams are looking at having a detachable module that will carry fuel. “Tentatively called the propulsion module, it will help in taking the landing module — which will have the rover sitting inside the lander — to the lunar orbit,” the source said. In Chandrayaan-2, fuel carried on the orbiter was used for all the manoeuvres performed post launch and until the separation of the landing module. Here, the propulsion module will aid this process. Isro is also looking at reducing the number of manoeuvres around Earth and also during the transit to the lunar orbit. “Instead of six manoeuvres, we may have just three or four,” a source said.
I wonder how significant the changes will be to the lander, and possibly even the rover?They said better landing legs, but could they even just make a bigger lander, and possibly even a bigger rover?
And couldn't they try for a different landing site that's closer to the south pole / Shackleton crater area?
You can't change very much if you want to fly in 1 months. Software is the most likely thing to change.
"Doing an LCROSS" on the Moon--an interesting opportunity to coordinate resources, in lunar orbit and on Earth.
Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 11/18/2019 05:48 pm"Doing an LCROSS" on the Moon--an interesting opportunity to coordinate resources, in lunar orbit and on Earth.If the propulsion module is traveling all the way to the Moon, it would be better to make additional use of it for doing what the upper Centaur stage of LCROSS did. Based on Chandrayaan-3 landing site's rough proximity to the lunar south pole, that means a highly inclined orbital plane would be achieved with that propulsion module. So perhaps that could allow for that module to be hurled into a crater in the south polar region.I wonder which place could be selected as a useful target?Perhaps then LRO, Selene, Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, etc could get a glimpse of whatever debris cloud gets stirred up.
Some points to ponder> Will the Lander dimensions allow it to be fitted inside the payload faring of GSLV-Mk2
> What will the new Lander/rover combo called? Will it be called as Vikram and pragyaan again?
New Delhi: The central government has started preparations for the Chandrayaan-3 project and has sought approval to allocate Rs 75 crore from Parliament for this. This information has been received from the papers of supplementary demands for the year 2019-20 presented in Parliament. Under the first batch of grant demands for the current financial year, the government has sought approval from Parliament to allocate related funds for the new project Chandrayaan-3 under the head of the Department of Space.These funds have been sought in two categories. The paper on the supplementary demand for the grant presented by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that a grant of Rs 15 crore should be approved to meet the expenditure of the new project ie Chandrayaan-3. It said that in the context of the new project ie Chandrayaan-3, a grant of Rs 60 crore should be approved for machinery and equipment and other capital expenditure. Earlier, the Department of Space had said in a statement that, for the necessary technology proficiency in relation to Chandrayaan 3, ISRO has prepared a roadmap for moon exploration.This roadmap has been presented before the Space Commission. Based on the last analysis and recommendations of the expert committee, work is going on for future moon mission. In the context of Chandrayaan-3 project, work has started on the landing site, local navigation and other points and a meeting has been held on this.
