Chandrayaan-3 - Indian Moon shot

[Beati Dogu]

Yes, although Luna 25 had been delayed for years, so wasn’t just a cheap attempt to upstage any body this time.

[Eric Mc]

In theory you are right. But I have a hunch that there was political pressure to try and get it down onto the lunar surface ahead of the Indians.

Both projects have become very political. I'm listening to Prime Minister Modi at the moment blathering on and on. I hope the technicians are ignoring him and monitoring the state of the lander.

[Beati Dogu]

Could be. But it backfired on them if they did.

Edit: The BRICS summit started yesterday in South Africa. That’ll be why.

Edited by Beati Dogu on Wednesday 23 August 19:39

[Acorn1]

So we saw a really poor cartoon graphic of it landing - any real time shots from the lander or the rover?

I remain sceptical considering the cost.

I was of the understanding that coms were not possible on the dark side of the moon - did they have a relay satellite or something?

Edited by Acorn1 on Wednesday 23 August 18:29

[Beati Dogu]

Yes, it relays signals up to the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and on to Earth.

[Simpo Two]

MXRod said:

Plenty of change from the £2.5 billion we gave them a couple of years ago them

Indeed; I think it was the realisation that this terribly poor country had a space programme, and we didn't, that finally led to aid being stopped. And they didn't even say thanks; wot mugs we are.

Russia hasn't had a good week - first the moon shot crashes, then the aeroplane that just happens to be carrying somebody who pissed off Putin crashes and kills everybody on board. Funny that.

[M4cruiser]

BBC News made a booboo today, in the way they sometimes display headlines from two different stories at the same time: they inadvertently linked these two separate stories. Look at what India is spending their money on, whilst their earthly infrastructure is falling apart.

[Simpo Two]

But that's how it needs to be. You can't cancel a space programme just because a bridge collapses. Life is cheaper in developing countries, as it was in our industrial revolution when we were achieving great things.

[Eric Mc]

Acorn1 said:

So we saw a really poor cartoon graphic of it landing - any real time shots from the lander or the rover?

I remain sceptical considering the cost.

I was of the understanding that coms were not possible on the dark side of the moon - did they have a relay satellite or something?

Edited by Acorn1 on Wednesday 23 August 18:29

I didn’t think the Indian probe landed on the FAR side of the moon. There is no DARK side as such as all parts of the moon get 14 days of sunlight.
The Chinese are the only country so far to land a probe on the moon’s far side and they used a specially located communication satellite to maintain contact.
So, it is possible to maintain contact with on object on the far side.

[Eric Mc]

Simpo Two said:

But that's how it needs to be. You can't cancel a space programme just because a bridge collapses. Life is cheaper in developing countries, as it was in our industrial revolution when we were achieving great things.

The Indian space programme has already contributed vastly to the Indian economy and has also saved millions of Indian lives through vastly improved weather satellites.

[Simpo Two]

Eric Mc said:

Simpo Two said:

But that's how it needs to be. You can't cancel a space programme just because a bridge collapses. Life is cheaper in developing countries, as it was in our industrial revolution when we were achieving great things.

The Indian space programme has already contributed vastly to the Indian economy and has also saved millions of Indian lives through vastly improved weather satellites.

They should get some more space programmes then - internet says 50 million homes in India don't have electricity. Ultimately it's down to a government's priorities - shall we give everyone electricity, or build a moon rocket? I know which one is more exciting, and probably cheaper.

[Eric Mc]

Exactly. And it’s a democracy too - as long as their space policies cy is popular, which it is, they will continue with it.

[Simpo Two]

Eric Mc said:

Exactly. And it’s a democracy too - as long as their space policies cy is popular, which it is, they will continue with it.

But here people would say 'We haven't got electricity - why are you wasting money on moon rockets?' Strange.

[Beati Dogu]

They’re doing a lot of research into nuclear power using thorium, which India is also blessed with large reserves of. Something we may be very grateful of here one day.

[Beati Dogu]

Chandrayaan-3's little rover vehicle has been let loose:

[Hammersia]

Beati Dogu said:

Chandrayaan-3's little rover vehicle has been let loose:

I dunno the shadows are all pointing in the wrong direction

(sorry if this joke has been done before)

[BoRED S2upid]

Simpo Two said:

They should get some more space programmes then - internet says 50 million homes in India don't have electricity. Ultimately it's down to a government's priorities - shall we give everyone electricity, or build a moon rocket? I know which one is more exciting, and probably cheaper.

That sounds like a lot but they have 1.4 Billion people increasing rapidly so in the grand scheme of things.

[Beati Dogu]

A photo of the lander taken from the little Pragyan rover:



ChaSTE (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment) is a cluster of thermal sensors that measure things like the thermal conductivity of the Moon’s surface.

ILSA (Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity Studies) is basically a Moonquake detector.

[Beati Dogu]

One soft landing wasn't good enough for them, so a few days ago, they had it fire the engines again, elevate itself by about 40 cm and land about 30 – 40 cm away.

This space hop was to help with future sample return missions. The ramp and sensors were redeployed afterwards.

[Eric Mc]

It's just after dawn at the landing site and the lander has failed to respond to the morning wake-up call.