Chandrayaan-3, the highly anticipated lunar mission by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), has been making waves in the scientific community. What sets Chandrayaan-3 apart is its innovative ‘failure-based design,’ a concept recently elucidated by ISRO Chief S Somanath.
“…In nutshell if you tell what was the problem in Chandrayaan-2, it is simple to say that the ability to handle parameter variation or dispersion was very limited. So, what we did this time is simply expand it further. Look at what are the things that can go wrong. So, instead of success-based design in Chandrayaan-2, we are doing a failure-based design in Chandrayaan-3. What all can fail, and how to protect it – this is the approach that we have taken…”, he told ANI.
The launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is scheduled for 2.35 pm on July 14th, with the planned soft landing on the lunar surface anticipated to take place on either August 23rd or 24th. Serving as a successor to Chandrayaan-2, the Chandrayaan-3 mission aims to demonstrate the capability of safe landing and surface exploration on the moon.
“After the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the surface of the Moon, the rover, which has six wheels, will come out and is expected to work for 14 days on the Moon. With the support of multiple cameras on the rover, we will be able to receive images,” an official release said.
Somanath also highlighted that the failure-based design philosophy encourages an environment of innovation and continuous improvement. It fosters a culture where engineers embrace challenges, analyze failures critically, and apply their learnings to future missions. This iterative approach is vital for pushing the boundaries of space exploration and achieving significant scientific advancements.
Chandrayaan-3’s ‘failure-based design‘ is a testament to ISRO’s dedication to continuous improvement and learning from failures. By adopting this approach, ISRO aims to mitigate risks, improve reliability, and push the boundaries of space exploration. S Somanath’s explanations shed light on the rationale behind this unique design philosophy, emphasizing the significance of failure analysis in engineering endeavors.
