India's historic lunar mission: exploring the moon's south pole

Vikram carried within its protective shell a 26-kilogram rover named Pragyaan. This endeavour is part of India's Chandrayaan-3 lunar exploration mission, aimed at unravelling the mysteries the unexplored area of the moon has to offer.

A milestone in lunar exploration

India's successful moon landing places it alongside the US, China, and Russia, making it the fourth country to achieve this feat. However, what sets India's mission apart is its destination – the moon's south pole. This uncharted territory, which has been untouched by sunlight for billions of years, presents scientists with an array of challenges and opportunities for discovery.

For years, the moon was thought to be an arid celestial body. However, advances in technology and data collected by India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter in 2008 hinted at the presence of water ice in the moon's polar regions.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter also contributed valuable information about the possibility of water being present in some of the moon’s craters, strengthening the case for lunar water reserves. These frozen water deposits, free from the Sun's radiation, may have accumulated in cold polar regions over eons, presenting scientists with an opportunity to study the history of water in our solar system.

The promise of lunar water

The presence of water was a driving force behind the Chandrayaan-3 mission, but the discovery is not just a scientific curiosity, it also has profound implications for future lunar exploration and space travel. It has the potential to serve as a lifeline for astronauts and sustain future lunar missions by offering drinking water and sanitation resources. Moreover, by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, it could be used as rocket propellant, potentially transforming exploration within our solar system.

However, the challenge lies in quantifying the water's abundance and figuring out the feasibility of extraction. Chandrayaan-3, designed for a two-week mission, will conduct a range of experiments, including a spectrometer analysis of the lunar surface's mineral composition and an investigation into the presence of water ice.

Cost-efficient exploration

India achieved this feat at a relatively low cost of $74 million. Unlike the US Apollo missions, which relied on powerful rockets, India's mission used Earth's orbit to gain the necessary velocity for a lunar trajectory.

Vikram's landing required a complex sequence of manoeuvres. In the minutes leading up to touchdown, the lander decelerated from 3,730 miles per hour to nearly zero and transitioned from a horizontal to a vertical position. Any miscalculation in this critical phase could have spelled disaster, as India experienced in its 2019 moon landing attempt. However, this time, India's meticulous planning and execution paid off.

A window into lunar history

The moon's south pole holds added scientific intrigue due to its location on the rim of an immense impact crater, spanning a diameter of 2,500 kilometres and reaching depths of up to eight kilometres. This crater is one of the most ancient features in our solar system, offering a glimpse into the moon's geological history.

Furthermore, Pragyaan, the rover accompanying Vikram, aspires to investigate the moon's exosphere – a tenuous atmosphere – and analyse the polar regolith, a layer of loose particles and dust that has accumulated over billions of years, resting atop bedrock.

A new era of lunar exploration

As countries worldwide plan ambitious human missions to the moon, access to water at the lunar south pole becomes a paramount concern. India's Chandrayaan-3 mission marks a significant step forward in our understanding of the moon's resources and its potential to support future lunar colonies and exploration missions.

India's landing near the moon's south pole with Vikram and Pragyaan symbolises a giant leap in lunar exploration and reinforces India's position as a spacefaring nation with a commitment to both scientific discovery and cost-effective space missions. This is an endeavour that opens new avenues for scientific inquiry, resource utilisation, the advancement of space travel, and an intriguing era of lunar exploration.