Chandrayaan 3’s Giant Leap: Nuclear Energy Powers Moon Orbiting Propulsion Module

Successful Nuclear-Powered Moon Landing

A few weeks ago, Chandrayaan 3, a moon exploration project, made a soft landing close to the lunar south pole and successfully tested the usage of nuclear energy in one of its components for power generation.

According to the report, a Radioisotope Heating Unit (RHU) has been powering Chandrayaan 3’s propulsion module while it is still orbiting the Moon.

Two RHUs, each producing one watt, are part of Chandrayaan 3’s propulsion module and were created and built by BARC. Future rovers’ instrument maintenance may involve the use of nuclear resources, according to project head P. Veeramuthuvel.

However, the study stated that because of their increased mass, the RHUs were not put on the Pragyan rover and Vikram lander of Chandrayaan 3.

Rather, they were positioned in the propulsion module for display and experimentation.

About the Chandrayaan 3 mission:

Pragyan, a rover from the Chandrayaan 3 project, was transported inside the Vikram lander by means of a propulsion module. It was not equipped with a lunar orbiter, in contrast to Chandrayaan 2, which is still functioning as intended.

After a successful landing on August 23, the Vikram lander, along with the Pragyan Rover, went into sleep mode following ten days of lunar exploration. The propulsion module, meantime, has broken away from the lander and is still circling the moon.

India became the fourth nation to land on the moon under control and the first to land close to the south pole following the landing’s success.