Chandrayaan-3 Launch Rehearsal: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said Tuesday that the launch rehearsal of Chandrayaan-3 has been “concluded”. A launch rehearsal simulates all the preparations and processes necessary for the launch of a spacecraft. The launch rehearsal of Chandrayaan-3 took 24 hours to complete. The electrical tests on the vehicle assembly of LVM3-M4 and Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft have also been completed.
The spacecraft will be launched atop the Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3), also known as the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III, on Friday, July 14, at 2:45 pm IST.
Chandrayaan-3 will begin its journey toward the Moon from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
ISRO’s Moon mission aims to put a lander and a rover on the Moon's highlands near its south pole, and demonstrate end-to-end landing and roving capabilities.
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The objectives of Chandrayaan-3, apart from demonstrating a safe and soft landing and roving capabilities on the lunar surface, are to conduct in-situ scientific experiments, and develop and demonstrate new technologies required for interplanetary missions.
The Chandrayaan-3 lander has been designed in a way such that it can land softly in the Moon at a specified site, and deploy the rover, whose aim is to conduct in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface. The propulsion module will carry the lander module to the final 100-kilometre circular orbit. After reaching this orbit, the lander module and the propulsion module will separate.
The propulsion module, after separation, will remain in orbit around the Moon, and act as a communications relay satellite, NASA says on its website.The lander, rover and propulsion modules will carry their own scientific payloads.
The vertical velocity with which the lander will touch down on the lunar surface should be less than two metres per second, and the horizontal velocity should be less than 0.5 metre per second. The slope must be less than 120 degrees.
The mission life of Chandrayaan-3 is one lunar day, which is equivalent to about 14 Earth days.