ISRO is now letting you study data from Chandrayaan-3 mission
What's the story
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has invited proposals from the scientific community to analyze and utilize data from its Chandrayaan-3 mission. The mission, which was launched on July 14, 2023, successfully carried out in-situ studies on the Moon. Now, ISRO is looking for innovative research proposals that can leverage this data for further scientific understanding.
Proposal submission
Who can apply?
ISRO is inviting proposals from faculty and researchers associated with recognized academic, research institutions, universities, colleges, and government organizations in India. The deadline for submitting these proposals is October 21. This move comes as part of ISRO's effort to expand the scientific community by releasing data utilization Announcement of Opportunity (AO).
Mission success
Mission objectives achieved
ISRO has confirmed that the objectives of the Chandrayaan-3 mission were successfully achieved. The payloads onboard the lander and rover collected data on seismicity, thermo-physical properties, plasma environment, and elemental composition of the landing region for one lunar day. These datasets have been analyzed by domain experts and published in peer-reviewed journals. The science data was made public on August 23, 2024.
Research encouragement
Proposals for payload utilization
ISRO is now looking for innovative research proposals that can leverage the capabilities of the payloads for intended scientific purposes. The space agency has noted that data from Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter missions were extensively used by Indian researchers to study lunar surface and sub-surface composition as well as exosphere. These studies have provided valuable insights into lunar evolutionary processes.
Data access
Data available on PRADAN portal
The data from the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover payloads has been made publicly available. ISRO is soliciting scientific proposals for their analysis. Interested researchers can access this data on the PRADAN portal of the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) at pradan.issdc.gov.in.