6 Types of Lunar Missions—Explained!
There are six main types of moon missions, and by the end of this article, you will be familiar with them.
I recently watched a video on YouTube where Dhruv Rathee explained the different types of lunar missions. Before watching that video, I had zero knowledge about it, but after watching it, I learned something new.
It is great to expand your learning horizons. Well, I try to learn something new every single week. It makes me feel more knowledgeable. This article, therefore, tries to explain the mission in simple words. No jargon is used.
You can watch the video with English subtitles:
P.S. Chandrayaan-3 was recently launched in India, and like the rest of the nation, I’m rejoicing too.
What are lunar missions?
Lunar missions involve sending out human spacecraft for the scientific exploration of the moon’s surface. The first successful attempt was made by the Soviet Union.
There are six different types of lunar missions:
- Flyby Missions
- Orbiter Missions
- Impact Missions
- Lander Missions
- Rover Missions
- Human Missions
Different Types of Lunar Missions
These different types of lunar missions have their own separate purposes.
Flyby Missions
In this mission, the spacecraft doesn’t get into an orbit around the moon. It simply passes by the moon, ‘flies’ by the moon, and in that crucial moment, records scientific data.
The first successful ‘flyby mission’ was launched by the Soviet Union in 1959.
The main motive behind this mission was to observe and study the moon from a distance.
Orbiter Missions
Unlike the Flyby missions, in the Orbiter mission, the spacecraft enters a stable orbit (a lunar orbit) and circles the moon. This spaceflight operation is called orbital insertion.
This mission studies the moon’s surface and atmosphere. This is one of the most common types of moon missions.
The first successful ‘orbital mission’ was launched by the Soviet Union in 1966.
Impact Missions
This mission is an extension of the Orbiter mission. On this mission, there are two parts to a spacecraft.
The main flyby spacecraft orbits around the moon, but a part of it, also known as the Impactor, gets detached from it before ‘crash’ landing on the moon. This fall impacts the moon’s surface, which is exactly what it tries to study.
In that brief moment before the crash landing, the instruments present inside the Impactor recorded and analyzed the scientific data.
Chandrayaan-1 was an Impact Mission.
Here is a list of the lunar missions for a better understanding.
Lander Missions
In this mission, a part of the spacecraft is detached, called the Lander. The main mission is to ‘soft’ land and not ‘crash’ land like Impact Missions.
An Impactor ‘crash’ lands, whereas a Lander ‘soft’ lands on the moon’s surface.
The lander is a spacecraft that lands softly on the surface of the moon and remains there to record scientific data.
The first successful ‘lander mission’ was launched by the Soviet Union in 1966.
Rover Missions
The Rover is a small vehicle that comes out of the Lander and moves around the moon’s surface to carry out scientific experiments.
The first successful ‘rover mission’ was launched by the Soviet Union in 1970.
Finally, we have reached the last important mission.
Human Missions
In this mission, the Rover is replaced by a real human.
This enables the person to move around on the moon’s surface for scientific research.
This ‘human mission’ was first achieved by the United States of America in 1969.
Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon’s surface.
These are the six different types of moon missions carried out by different countries.
