Chandrayaan-3: What ISRO Needs To Perfect As It Plans To Land On Moon Again Next Year

Earlier in September, the Indian Space Research Organisation attempted to make history by putting a lander on the Moon with Chandrayaan-2.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out as planned. Now, however, ISRO is ready to try again in about a year.

Images courtesy: ISRO

1. It already has a soft deadline

ISRO is reportedly already working on another mission for November 2020, tentatively called Chandrayaan-3. There are still no details out yet, but it seems ISRO has already formed panels to head the mission. And you can bet they're working feverishly to meet that deadline, both to appease the powers that be as well as to prove to themselves that they're capable to this feat.

2. There's a clear budget to beat

The last time around, ISRO managed to put together the Chandrayaan-2 mission with a budget of Rs 978 crore. Around Rs 603 crore was to develop the orbiter, lander, and rover, while the remaining Rs 375 crore went to create the GSLV Mk III rocket.

It was still multiples cheaper than similar NASA missions, but you can be sure India's space agency has a smaller budget this time around. The last time they were building something for the first time. It failed because space is a hard beast to tame, but it's not likely something the men and women allocating a budget are going to care about. Even if ISRO gets the same budget as the last time, they're going to want to build Chandrayaan-3 with a smaller purse in order to win back some of the favour it appears they've lost.

3. We probably need to improve our braking system and comms

The last time, the Vikram lander was in the last stage of putting down on the Moon before it crashed. It seemed everything was going according to plan, until a brief loss of connection to the ground team here. That was enough for the lander to veer off course and plummet too quickly. This time around, ISRO is either going to have to find a way to strengthen their comm signals with the lander, or they're going to have to program the lander module in a way that it's even finding and navigating to a good spot for a final descent can be fully automated. That way any loss of connectivity will have minimal effect.

4. Hardware changes are imminent

There will be a few changes to the physical structure of the Chandrayaan-3 mission too. For one, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter continues to function just fine, so the new mission will not feature an orbiter of its own. Instead, there's supposed to be a simple "detachable module" with propulsion systems that will help put the new lander (with its rover) into lunar orbit.

Aside from that, ISRO is also looking at strengthening the lander's legs. This matters in the event of something similar that happened with Vikram, where the lander descended too fast. Strengthening the legs ensures they're less likely to crumple under an impact from a speedy descent, and perhaps they will be modified to lower the module's centre of gravity further, to better avoid it tipping over.

5. There'll be more reconnaissance

Thanks to the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter currently floating overhead, perhaps ISRO will also have a better chance to scout the landing area it previously wanted to put down with Vikram. Maybe they'll end up finding a better spot in the next year.

In any case, you can bet that the entire country is rooting for them to succeed, so we can join the elite few that have managed to make it to the lunar surface.