ISRO begins a new chapter in the new year by starting its mission to the MOON- Chandrayaan-3. Though it is the most important mission for the year 2020, ISRO is working on 25+ other missions this year.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru K Sivan- India Research Organization Chief revealed that Chandrayaan-3 mission is on and has been approved by the government. It is planned to launch in 2021.
Informing about the configuration of Chandrayaan-3, K Sivan said that its configuration will be similar to its predecessor. It means Chandrayaan 3 will also have a lander, a rover and a propulsion module. Providing further information on the mission, K Sivan said that all the activities related to the mission are going on smoothly and the mission will not affect the other space or satellite programs being conducted by ISRO.
Chandrayaan 3 and Gaganyaan are going on simultaneously
Another important mission- Gaganyaan which is India’s first manned mission space mission is also being carried out simultaneously along with Chandrayaan. It is going to be another important space mission for 2020. Providing information on Gaganyaan, K Sivan said that pilots have already been selected for the programme. Their astronaut training will be commenced in Russia and it will begin very soon.
What are India’s Plans regarding Chandrayaan 3?
As per the current planning, Chandrayaan-3 will land on the same location as that of Chandrayaan-2 i.e. the south pole of the Moon where no other nation has reached yet. In addition to having a soft landing there, the mission will also aim at searching for minerals, water and moonquakes.
The cost of Chandrayaan-3 mission
Talking about the cost of the mission, Jitendra Singh- Junior Minister at ISRO said that the mission will be quite economical and they are trying to cut costs as the orbiter is already there. The cost of the new equipment is 250 crores, while the total cost is around 625 crores.
Stay tuned to get further information, while you can check the details of Chandrayaan 2 at https://www.olivegreens.co.in/easyblog/chandrayaan-2-takeoff-rescheduled-on-july-22-here-is-all-you-need-to-know and https://www.olivegreens.co.in/easyblog/chandrayan-2-explained.