Chandrayaan-3: What Is Laser Retroreflector Array? NASA's Payload Launching On India's Third Moon Mission

Chandrayaan-3: The spacecraft from NASA is called the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) Rover. The payload will perform experiments on the lunar surface using lasers. 

Chandrayaan-3: The Laser Retroreflector Array Rover is equipped in Chandrayaan-3's lander, which has a total of five payloads. ( Image Source :ISRO )

Chandrayaan-3: The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO's) third lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3, is equipped with a total of eight payloads, one of which is a NASA payload. The spacecraft from NASA is called the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) Rover. The payload will perform experiments on the lunar surface using lasers. 

The aim of the LRA Rover, a passive experiment, is to understand the dynamics of the Moon's system. 

The LRA Rover is equipped in Chandrayaan-3's lander, which has a total of five payloads. Apart from the LRA Rover, the lander's payloads are Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChasTE), Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA), Langmuir Probe, and Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA). 

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ChasTE will carry out measurements of thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and temperature of elements on the lunar surface near the south pole; ILSA will measure the seismicity around the landing site and describe the structure of the lunar crust and mantle; LP will estimate plasma density, and RAMBHA will study the gas and plasma environment.

The rover is equipped with two payloads, which are the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS). 

APXS will help determine the elemental composition of the lunar soil and rocks around the landing site. The elements to be studied include magnesium, aluminium, silicon, potassium, calcium, titanium and iron. 

LIBS will conduct qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis in order to infer the chemical and mineralogical composition of the lunar surface.

The propulsion module is equipped with a payload called Spectro-polimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE). The function of SHAPE is to study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from lunar orbit. This means that SHAPE will analyse the spectro-polarimetric signatures of Earth. 

According to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Observatory, spectro-polarimetry is a technique which involves the polarisation of light by splitting the incoming light into its constituent colours, and then analysing the polarisation of each colour individually. 

Understanding the spectro-polarimetric signatures of Earth can help scientists analyse the reflected light from exoplanets and determine whether they would qualify for habitability.