After a 40-day voyage to the moon, India’s third mission to the moon, Chandrayaan 3, which was launched on July 14, 2023, touched down on the lunar surface on August 23, 2023.
Earlier, on July 22, 2019, Chandrayaan 2 was sent into orbit. A software error caused this part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission to fail.
In contrast to Chandrayaan 2, which had three primary components (orbit, lander, and rover), Chandrayaan 3 only contains the lander and the rover.
Chandrayaan 3 is supported by the orbiter from Chandrayaan 2, which is still in orbit around the moon. Chandrayaan 2 was supposed to touch down near the moon’s south pole.
Chandrayaan 2 employed a combination of radar and optical sensors to guide its landing. Chandrayaan 3 landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the moon’s biggest and deepest impact basin.
Although Chandrayaan 3 solely utilises optical sensors, this poses a danger but it also makes the landing mechanism simpler and lighter.
Chandrayaan 3 carried a smaller set of scientific instruments than Chandrayaan 2, but it included new instruments for detecting seismic activity on the moon.
Chandrayaan 2 is believed to have cost Rs. 978 crores, whereas Chandrayaan 3 is expected to have cost Rs. 603 crores.