Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – India’s mission to the Moon took the world by storm. Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed at the south pole of the Moon on Wednesday (23/8).
Previously, Chandrayaan-3 was predicted to arrive simultaneously with the Luna-25 mission launched by Russia. Unfortunately, President Vladimir Putin’s envoy failed to continue the mission.
In fact, the costs incurred by Russia to launch Luna-25 are predicted to reach Rp. 3 trillion or much more expensive than India’s Chandrayaan-3 which is ‘only’ Rp. 1.2 trillion.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up to India’s missions to the Moon conducted in 2009 (Chandrayaan-1) and 2019 (Chandrayaan-2). There are several records recorded by India in this mission, summarized from Livemint, Thursday (24/8/2023).
World Record Recorded Chandrayaan-3
- India is the first country to land on the south polar side of the Moon.
- India is the 2nd country, besides China, to operate a Rover on the Moon.
- India becomes the 4th country to land on the Moon. Previously, there were China, the US, and the Soviet Union.
- As many as 8 million people watched the live stream of Chandrayaan-3’s landing on the Moon. That figure broke the record previously held by YouTuber Casimiro in the semifinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup with 6 million live stream viewers. In fact, 18 hours after the live stream ended, Chandrayaan-3’s video views during landing reached more than 70 million.
In addition to the several records above, there are several interesting facts about Chandrayaan-3 that should be known, as follows:
Chandrayaan-3’s Mission
In 2009, the Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon managed to collect data in the coldest and darkest areas, namely the Moon’s poles. The data shows signs of frozen water ice deposits.
Then, 10 years later in 2019, ISRO launched the Chandrayaan-2 mission to follow up on previous findings. Unfortunately, the mission failed because the plane crashed into the surface of the Moon when it was about to land.
Now, 4 years later, Chandrayaan-3 has successfully landed and will continue exploration to prove the presence of frozen water ice at the Moon’s poles.
Chandrayaan-3 will also measure the density of plasma (ions and electrons) on the lunar soil surface. Chandrayaan-3 will also measure stability around the Moon landing site.
This mission will help scientists find out what kinds of chemicals are in the lunar soil. The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) will determine the composition of elements such as magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Potassium, Calcium, Titanium and Iron, in the soil and rocks around the Moon landing sites.
The Company Behind Chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3 is an aircraft that can be said to be purely made in India. All components for aircraft development are supplied by Indian companies, both private and state-owned.
Some of the Indian companies involved are Larson and Toubro, Mishra Dhatu Nigam, BHEL, Godrej Aerospace, Ankit Aerospace and Walchandnagar Industries
The Important Figure Behind Chandrayaan-3
ISRO President S Somanath headed the space agency since January 2022 and was a key figure in the launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Previously, Somanath was Director at Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC). He is the figure who oversees the Chandrayaan-3, Aditya-L1 (mission to study the Sun) and Gaganyaan (India’s first manned mission).
Other key figures behind Chandrayaan-3 are Project Director P Veeramuthuvel, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Center Unnikrishnan Nair, and Director of UR Rao Satellite Center (URSC) M Sankaran.
Those are some recorded records and interesting facts about Chandrayaan-3. Hope it is useful!
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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