What is the main task of India’s third moon mission which could not be achieved in its earlier mission? List the countries that have achieved this task. Introduce the system in the spacecraft launched and explain the role of the ‘Virtual Launch Control Centre’ at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre which contributed to the successful launch from Sriharikota.
What the examiner wants
Answer all four parts: Chandrayaan-3's main task missed by Chandrayaan-2, the countries that have done it, the spacecraft's systems, and the role of VSSC's Virtual Launch Control Centre.
Demand-wise check
- 1Main task: soft landing near the lunar south pole and roving (Chandrayaan-2's Vikram crash-landed in 2019)≈50 words
- 2Countries with soft landings: USSR, USA, China, India (first near the south pole, 23 August 2023); Japan (SLIM, 2024) later≈50 words
- 3Spacecraft system: propulsion module, Vikram lander, Pragyan rover, payloads (ChaSTE, ILSA, LIBS, APXS, SHAPE)≈50 words
- 4Virtual Launch Control Centre at VSSC: remote monitoring and decision support for the LVM3 launch from Sriharikota≈50 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
Where marks usually go
- Missing one of the four parts
- Saying India was the first to land on the Moon
Draw this
- Labelled diagram of propulsion module, lander and rover
Value addition
- FactChandrayaan-3's Vikram lander touched down on 23 August 2023, now National Space Day.ISRO
- FactChandrayaan-3 was launched on LVM3-M4 from Sriharikota on 14 July 2023.ISRO
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Aniket Ranjan · AIR 48 · Page 35 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
- Mayank Purohit · AIR 33 · Page 7 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 15 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
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