India made history by landing the first spacecraft near the moon's south pole, which contains precious but extremely difficult-to-reach water ice.
Chandrayaan-3 launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, India, on July 14. Video: Space
India successfully landed the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft near the Moon's south pole on the evening of August 23, becoming the first country to have a lander in this strategic area and the fourth country to have a lander on the Moon, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. The miracle happened just a few days after Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashed there. Previously, the Chandrayaan-2 lander also failed to land at the Moon's south pole.
"Space travel is difficult, and landing on the surface of another celestial body is among the most difficult parts of space travel," said Robert Braun, director of the Center for Space Exploration at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
There are a myriad of reasons for the failed landing, but in this case, the biggest reason is that Russia and India were trying to do something incredibly difficult: Landing for the first time in a place no one had ever been before. India's success, especially in the context of Russia's failure, is a huge victory.
Image of the south polar region on the far side of the Moon taken by the Russian Luna-25 spacecraft on August 17, before crashing into the lunar surface. Photo: Roscosmos
Attractive resources
The lunar south pole is particularly valuable space real estate because of its water ice reserves. It is also believed to be the most water-rich region on the Moon. The water frozen in the dark craters could be turned into drinking water for future astronauts.
Countries are also interested in these reserves because water can be split into oxygen and hydrogen. This could be used as fuel to launch rockets from the Moon to Mars without the heavy gravity burden of launching from Earth. Water ice could also be mined to produce breathable oxygen for a human base on the Moon.
In addition to India and Russia, the US and China are also targeting the Moon's south pole. These two space powers hope to land there before the end of 2030.
Danger lurks
As it nears the lunar surface, the lander needs to slow down, often rotating and extending its legs. Then, when it touches down on the surface, the system has to be sturdy enough to withstand the shock. “A lot of that is tested in simulations. But it’s very difficult to create a high-fidelity or accurate simulation of something you’ve never experienced,” Braun says.
During the landing process, every operation, calculation and movement must take place in the exact right time, in the exact right order. Any error, any flaw in the hardware or software could cause the lander to crash into the Moon.
The final stage of the landing is the most difficult part, according to Braun, because the lander begins to interact with the lunar surface. If the base touches a rock, the lander could tip over and end the mission. Additionally, lunar dust could obscure the instruments and make the mission less successful.
A view of a relatively flat portion of the Vikram lander's landing pad on the Moon. Photo: ISRO
The gravity of the lunar south pole—a region of perpetual darkness and water ice—also makes landings more difficult. Landers often use cameras to assess the ground below in real time during their final minutes near the lunar surface. This observation helps them identify rocks and craters that need to be avoided so they don’t topple over during landing.
At the south pole, landers may fly through some of the shadow, even if they don’t land in the shadow, Braun says. This doesn’t seem to have affected landing attempts at the south pole so far, but the darkness could pose a threat to future lunar missions. Plus, no one has ever been to the south pole before. Compared to the equatorial region where the Apollo landings took place, it’s a very mysterious place.
Thu Thao (According to Business Insider )
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