Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (centre) felicitates ISRO Chairperson S. Somnath (right) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), in Bengaluru on August 24, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A day after Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the lunar surface, making India the first country to achieve a soft landing on the South Pole of the Moon, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the Missions Operations Complex at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru on August 24.

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He met ISRO Chairperson S. Somnath and felicitated him. He praised the ISRO chief and the team involved in the Chandrayaan mission and congratulated them on their success.

Mr. Siddaramaiah also met the space agency’s Chandrayaan-3 project directors, scientists, engineers and staff and congratulated them.

The achievement triggered celebrations at the ISRO in Bengaluru, where the space agency’s scientists, engineers and staff were joined by mediapersons and others in celebrating the historic event.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit ISRO in Bengaluru on August 26 to discuss with top scientists their future projects.

The Dark Side of the Moon, 23 August 2023: The portion of Chandrayaan-3’s landing site taken after by Vikram Lander after the successful landing.
| Photo Credit: ISRO/The Hindu

India’s space agency is attempting to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole, a mission that could advance India’s space ambitions and expand knowledge of lunar water ice, potentially one of the moon’s most valuable resources.

Here’s what’s known about the presence of frozen water on the moon – and why space agencies and private companies see it as a key to a moon colony, lunar mining and potential missions to Mars.

How did scientists find water on the moon?

As early as the 1960s, before the first Apollo landing, scientists had speculated that water could exist on the moon. Samples the Apollo crews returned for analysis in the late 1960s and early 1970s appeared to be dry.

In 2008, Brown University researchers revisited those lunar samples with new technology and found hydrogen inside tiny beads of volcanic glass. In 2009, a NASA instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Chandrayaan-1 probe detected water on the moon’s surface.

Also Read | With moon now in India’s orbit, focus shifts to Pragyan rover

In the same year, another NASA probe that hit the south pole found water ice below the moon’s surface. An earlier NASA mission, the 1998 Lunar Prospector, had found evidence that the highest concentration of water ice was in the south pole’s shadowed craters.

Why is water on the moon important?

Scientists are interested in pockets of ancient water ice because they could provide a record of lunar volcanoes, material that comets and asteroids delivered to Earth, and the origin of oceans.

If water ice exists in sufficient quantities, it could be a source of drinking water for moon exploration and could help cool equipment.

It could also be broken down to produce hydrogen for fuel and oxygen to breathe, supporting missions to Mars or lunar mining.

Also Read | Not just sons of Tamil Nadu but State’s soil itself contributed to Moon mission

The 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty prohibits any nation from claiming ownership of the moon. There is no provision that would stop commercial operations.

A U.S.-led effort to establish a set of principles for moon exploration and the use of its resources, the Artemis Accords, has 27 signatories. China and Russia have not signed.

What makes the south pole especially tricky?

Attempted landings on the moon have failed before. Russia’s Luna-25 craft had been scheduled to land on the South Pole this week but spun out of control on approach and crashed on Sunday. The south pole – far from the equatorial region targeted by previous missions, including the crewed Apollo landings – is full of craters and deep trenches.

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission is on track for an attempted landing on Wednesday, the space agency has said. A previous Indian mission failed in 2019 to safely land near the area targeted by Chandrayaan-3.

Both the United States and China have planned missions to the south pole.

July 14: LVM3 M4 vehicle successfully launches Chandrayaan-3 into orbit from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Chandrayaan-3 starts its journey into precise orbit.

July 15: First orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earthbound firing-1) successfully performed from ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. The spacecraft is in 41762 km x 173 km orbit.

July 17: Second orbit-raising manoeuvre performed. Spacecraft is in 41603 km x 226 km orbit.

July 22: Another orbit-raising manoeuvre completed using earth-bound perigee firing.

July 25: ISRO performs one more orbit-raising manoeuvre. Spacecraft is in 71351 km x 233 km orbit.

August 1: ISRO performs Translunar Injection successfully and inserts the spacecraft into translunar orbit. Orbit achieved is 288 km x 369328 km.

August 5: Lunar-Orbit Insertion of Chandrayaan-3 performed successfully. Orbit achieved is 164 km x 18074 km, as intended.

August 6: ISRO performs second Lunar Bound Phase (LBN). With this, the spacecraft is in a 170 km x 4313 km orbit around the Moon. The space agency releases video of the Moon as viewed by Chandrayaan-3 during lunar orbit insertion.

August 9: Chandrayaan-3’s orbit is reduced to 174 km x 1437 km after a manoeuvre is performed.

August 14: Mission is in orbit circularisation phase after another manoeuvre. The spacecraft is in 151 km x 179 km orbit.

August 16: Spacecraft brought down to an orbit of 153 km x 163 km after firing is completed.

August 17: Lander module is successfully separated from the propulsion module.

August 19: ISRO performs de-boosting of the lander module to reduce its orbit. The lander module is in 113 km x 157 km orbit around the Moon.

August 20: One more de-boosting or orbit reduction manoeuvre on the lander module is performed. The lander module is in 25 km x 134 km orbit.

August 21: Chandrayaan-2 orbiter formally welcomes Chandrayaan-3 lander module saying ‘Welcome, buddy!’. Two-way communication between the two is established. Mission Operations Complex (MOX) now has more ways to communicate with the lander module.

August 22: ISRO releases images of the Moon captured by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) of the Chandrayaan-3 mission from an altitude of about 70 km. Systems are undergoing regular checks. Smooth sailing is continuing.

August 23: Safe and soft landing of Chandrayaan-3’s lander module on the southern pole of lunar surface expected at 6.04 p.m. – PTI