Space
CHANDRAYAAN-3: Explore the Moon’s South Pole
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- Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up to Chandrayaan-2 mission (2019), which partially failed after its lander and rover couldn’t execute a soft-landing on Moon.
- Landing site of Chandrayaan-3 is more or less the same as Chandrayaan-2: near south pole of moon at 70 degrees latitude.
- If successful, Chandrayaan-3 will become world’s first mission to soft-land near lunar south pole.
- Moon’s south pole has certain advantages including:
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- Its craters have been untouched by sunlight for billions of years offering an undisturbed record of solar system’s origins.
- Its permanently shadowed craters are estimated to hold enough water that could potentially be used for future missions.
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- Its positional advantages make it a suitable pit stop for future space exploration.
- It has traces of hydrogen, ammonia, methane, sodium, mercury, and silver making it an untapped source of essential resources.
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- All previous spacecraft to have landed on Moon have landed in equatorial region.
- It is easier and safer to land near equator.
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- Terrain and temperature are more hospitable and conducive for a long and sustained operation of instruments.
- Sunlight is present in abundance, at least on the side facing earth.
