The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft utilized a clever method based on the gravitational forces of the Moon and Earth to reach its destination.
Video describing the landing process of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. (Video: AiTelly).
At 19:34 on August 23 (Vietnam time), India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully made a soft landing at the Moon’s south pole during its mission of the same name.
Everything began as the lander approached the lowest point of its lunar orbit. Its four engines operated like brakes at an altitude of 30 km to reduce the spacecraft’s speed.
When it was just 7.2 km above the surface, the spacecraft used eight smaller thrusters to rotate from a horizontal position to a vertical one, gradually lowering its altitude until it touched down. Everything went smoothly, with no incidents occurring.
“We have landed softly on the Moon! India is on the Moon!” announced Sreedhara Somanath, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), following the historic landing.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that this success belongs to all of humanity and will support future lunar missions by other nations.
“I believe that all countries in the world, including those in the southern hemisphere, have the ability to achieve such milestones”, the Prime Minister stated. “We all aspire to reach the Moon and beyond.”
More than two hours after landing, ISRO released the first image showing the lunar surface captured by Chandrayaan-3 during its descent.
The organization also announced that it had successfully established a communication network between the spacecraft and the mission control center on Earth. Thus, it can be said that the Chandrayaan-3 mission has been preliminarily completed.
Why did India take 40 days to land on the Moon?
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft utilized a clever method based on the gravitational forces of the Moon and Earth to reach its destination (Photo: ISRO).
One of the major questions raised is why India’s Chandrayaan-3 took nearly 40 days to land on the Moon.
In comparison, China’s Chang’e 2 took only 4 days to reach the Moon during its 2010 mission. NASA’s Apollo 11 also took just 4 days to do the same, and even included the presence of three astronauts landing on the Moon.
Furthermore, the Soviet Luna-1 spacecraft took a mere 36 hours to reach lunar orbit during its 1959 mission.
The significant difference in mission duration is attributed to the fact that Chandrayaan-3 used a propulsion system with much weaker thrust compared to the aforementioned vehicles, in order to save mission costs.
This limited thrust and fuel constraints meant that Chandrayaan-3 could not take a direct flight path to the Moon like most other spacecraft.
Instead, to compensate for technological limitations, Chandrayaan-3 had to employ a clever method based on the gravitational forces of the Moon and Earth to reach its destination.
Specifically, the spacecraft had to orbit Earth 4.5 times and make numerous loops around the Moon to stabilize the necessary speed before executing the historic landing phase. However, this resulted in the mission duration being extended to 40 days.
It can be said that India did not prioritize speed but chose a “slow and steady” approach. Thanks to this factor, they achieved historic success while many other countries could not.
India as an Inspiration for Developing Countries
One of the most notable aspects of India’s lunar landing is its modest budget by governmental standards.
In 2020, ISRO estimated that the Chandrayaan-3 mission cost approximately 75 million USD. A two-year delay in the launch could increase the overall mission costs. However, this figure remains extremely low compared to lunar missions conducted by other countries.
For comparison, China’s Chang’e 2 mission cost nearly 219 million USD in 2010. Adjusted for inflation, this amount could be equivalent to 316 million USD.
The percentage of GDP allocated for space projects in India is much lower compared to other countries (Photo: CNBC).
The Soviet Luna-1 mission also incurred costs of up to 200 million USD in 1959. When adjusted for inflation, this figure rises to 6 – 10 billion USD.
NASA’s famous Apollo 11 mission cost the United States at least 25 billion USD in 1969, equivalent to about 200 billion USD today.
The 75 million USD budget for the Chandrayaan-3 mission is even less than half of what director Christopher Nolan spent on the space-themed film “Interstellar” (2014).
In terms of percentage of Gross Domestic Product, the U.S. spends the most on space, although this figure still only accounts for 0.28% of GDP. This far exceeds India’s 0.04% GDP, according to a July report on the global space economy by the Space Foundation.
The reduction of costs for space missions while still achieving goals, as India has done with Chandrayaan-3, can be seen as a revolution in the aerospace industry.
India’s success has inspired other nations as more space missions are being undertaken. (Photo: Getty).
Jim Bridenstine, former NASA Administrator, praised the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. He believes it will serve as a great motivation for all countries interested in space exploration.
“The costs of space missions will continue to decrease, which is a very positive development”, Bridenstine emphasized. “This is incredibly significant in the context of an increasing number of space missions being conducted.”
Currently, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United States are among the countries planning to return to the Moon or conquer this milestone for the first time. They may to some extent learn from the strategies that the Indians applied in their historic mission.
