Context: The recent images sent by Chandrayaan-1 suggest that the moon may be rusting along the poles.

• Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the moon, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2008.

About Chandrayaan Programme

• Chandrayaan is a multiple mission programme – planned to be conducted in three phases – Chandrayaan 1, Chandrayaan 2, and Chandrayaan 3.
• Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second mission (after Chandrayaan-1) to the moon and comprises a fully indigenous Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan).
• The mission aims to expand our knowledge and understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon through a detailed study of its topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and atmosphere.
• The Chandrayaan 1 (2008) was planned as an orbiter/impactor, Chandrayan 2 (2019) contains soft landers/rovers, while Chandrayan 3 (2024) is intended for in situ sampling.

Chandrayaan-1

• Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon was launched in 2008 using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11).
• The spacecraft carried 11 scientific instruments built in India, USA, UK, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria.
• The eleven payloads of Chandrayaan-1 have studied the moon from different perspectives and provided excellent quality of high resolution data. 
• The satellite made more than 3400 orbits around the moon and the mission was concluded when the communication with the spacecraft was lost in 2009. 

Objective of the mission

• To prepare a three dimensional atlas of both near and far side of the Moon.
• To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface with high spatial resolution.

Significant results from Chandrayaan-1

• The major discovery of the Chandrayaan-1 mission is the detection of water (H2O) and hydroxyl (OH) on the lunar surface.  
• The inference of sub surface water-ice deposits in the base of craters in permanent sun shadow,
• Detection of possible existence of water molecules in the lunar environment,
• Validation of Lunar Magma Ocean hypothesis,
• Detection of reflection of 20% of solar wind protons,
• Detection of presence of Mg, Al, Si, Ca on the lunar surface and
• Three dimensional conceptualization of many lunar craters of interest.

Note: PSLV-C11 is designed and developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.
Components of Chandrayaan 2

• Launcher: The GSLV Mk-III is India’s most powerful launcher to date and has been completely designed and fabricated from within the country.
• Orbiter: The Orbiter will observe the lunar surface and relay communication between Earth and Chandrayaan 2’s Lander — Vikram.
• Lander: The lander called ‘Vikram’ is designed to execute India’s first soft landing on the lunar surface.
• ‘Vikram’ is named after the space luminary, Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, who spearheaded India’s nascent space programme.
• Rover: The rover is a 6-wheeled, AI-powered vehicle named Pragyan, which translates to ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit. The Rover can travel up to 500 meters (half a kilometre) from the landing spot on the moon.

Chandrayaan 2 landing site

• The lunar South Pole is especially interesting because of the lunar surface area here that remains in shadow is much larger than that at the North Pole.
• There is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.
• In addition, South Pole region has craters that are cold traps and contain a fossil record of the early Solar System.
• Chandrayaan 2 was planned to land in a high plain situated between two craters called as Manzinus C and Simpelius N, at a latitude of about 70° south.

Chandrayaan-3: It is likely to be launched in early 2021.

• It will be a mission repeat of Chandrayaan-2 and will include a Lander and Rover similar to that of Chandrayaan-2, but will not have an orbiter.
• Planned to land on the South Pole of the Moon, Chandrayaan-2 was launched on 22th July in 2019. However, the lander Vikram hard-landed on 7th September 2019, crashing India's dream to become the first nation to successfully touch down on the lunar surface in its maiden attempt.
• With the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024.
• India’s first ever human space mission Gaganyaan aims to send a three-member crew to space for a period of five to seven days by 2022 when India completes 75 years of Independence.

Road Ahead

• The findings will reshape scientists’ knowledge about the moon’s polar regions. It also suggests that the Earth may have played an important role in the evolution of moon's surface. However, more data is needed to determine exactly how the water is interacting with rock.