| Abstract : | The Indian planetary exploration program began in 2008 with the launch of Chandrayaan-1 orbiter mission to the Moon. This was followed by the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launched in November 2013 and arrival on Mars in September 2014. The second India lunar mission is the Chandrayaan-2 mission; the Orbiter of the Chandrayaan-2 has been working around Moon since last more than 4 years. India launched its third Moon mission – the Chandrayaan-3 Lander-Rover mission in July 2023: making Indian the first country to have a successful landing near the polar region of Moon on 23 August 2023. The three experiments on the Vikram Lander, namely, CHASTE, ILSA, RAMBHA-LP, and the two experiments on the Pragyan Rover, namely, APXS and LIBS, have performed very well and provided unique data around the Shiv-Shakti landing site of the Chandrayaan-3. Future planetary missions are being planned to Moon, Venus, Mars, and beyond. This talk will discuss the Indian planetary missions, related challenges, highlight some of the new science from these missions, and future program. |
