Why in news?

• PM Modi announced that the point where the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the lunar surface would be named Shiv Shakti.
• He was addressing the ISRO scientists at the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru after his arrival from Greece.

What’s in today’s article?

• Chandrayaan-3
• ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC)
• News Summary

Chandrayaan-3

• About
  • The Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third lunar mission.
  • It consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM), and a rover.
  • Its objective is to develop and demonstrate new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.
• Objectives
  • The mission had 3 objectives:
    • Demonstration of a Safe and Soft Landing on the Lunar Surface is accomplished☑️
    • Demonstration of Rover roving on the moon is accomplished☑️
    • Conducting in-situ scientific experiments – This step is going on. All payloads are performing normally.
• Modules
• The propulsion module is the one that will take the lander and the rover to the moon.
• The lander module contains the rover. After the touchdown, the lander will remain stationary at the landing site, while the rover will explore the moon.
• Payloads
  • The Chandrayaan-3 carries six payloads that would help ISRO understand the lunar soil and also get the blue planet’s photographs from the lunar orbit.
    • Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) will measure the near-surface plasma density and its changes with time.
    • Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) will measure seismicity around the landing site and delineate the structure of the lunar crust and mantle.
    • The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) will determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the landing site.
    • Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) will derive the chemical composition and infer the mineralogical composition of the moon’s surface.
    • Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) will study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of the earth in the near-infrared wavelength range.
      • This could be used in the search for life on exo-planets beyond the solar system.
    • Lunar lander Vikram will click photos of the rover Pragyaan as it studies the seismic activity on the moon.
      • Using laser beams, it would try to melt a piece of the lunar surface -- the regolith -- to study the gases emitted during the process.
• ISRO’s previous moon missions
  • Chandrayaan-3 is largely a replica of its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, that was launched in July 2019 in the form of an orbiter and a lander (‘Vikram’) bearing a rover (‘Pragyan’).
  • Chandrayaan-1 was launched by ISRO in October, 2008.
    • The ISRO lost communication with Chandrayaan-1 on August 29, 2009, almost a year after it was launched.

ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC)

• ISTRAC is located in Bengaluru.
• It is entrusted with the major responsibility to provide tracking support for all the satellite and launch vehicle missions of ISRO.
• The major objectives of the centre are:
  • carrying out mission operations of all operational remote sensing and scientific satellites;
  • providing Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TTC) services from launch vehicle lift-off till injection of satellite into orbit;
  • to estimate its preliminary orbit in space; and
  • hardware and software developmental activities that enhance the capabilities of ISTRAC for providing flawless TTC and Mission Operations services.
• Towards, these objectives, ISTRAC has established a network of ground stations at Bengaluru, Lucknow, Mauritius, Sriharikota, Port Blair, Thiruvananthapuram, Brunei, Biak (Indonesia) and the Deep Space Network Stations.

News Summary: Chandrayaan-3’s landing spot on Moon to be known as Shiv Shakti point

Key highlights of the speech delivered by PM Modi

• Naming of landing spots of Chandrayaan-3 and Chandrayaan-2
  • PM Modi announced that the point where the Moon lander of Chandrayaan-3 touched down will now be known as Shiv Shakti.
    • In Shiv, there is resolution for the welfare of humanity and Shakti gives us strength to fulfil those resolutions.
    • This Shiv Shakti point of the moon also gives a sense of connection with Himalaya to Kanyakumari.
  • Also, the point where the Chandrayaan-2 left its footprints will now be called
    • It will serve as an inspiration for every effort that India makes and remind us that failure is not the end.
• National Space Day
• He announced that August 23, the day the Chandrayaan-3’s lander made a historic soft-landing on the Moon will be commemorated as National Space Day.
• National Space Day will celebrate the spirit of Science, Technology and Innovation, and inspire us for an eternity.
• He asked ISRO to organise national hackathons on space technology in governance in collaboration with various departments of the Centre and the State governments.
• He also called upon students across the country to take part in a huge quiz competition on the Chandrayaan mission organised by MyGov from September 1.
• India now among first-world countries
  • India has become the fifth-largest economy in the world and it is now among the first-world countries.
  • In the journey from third row to first row, institutions like our ISRO have played a huge role.
• Scientifically prove the astronomical formulas in the scriptures of India
  • He urged the younger generation of the country to come forward to scientifically prove the astronomical formulas in the scriptures of India.