Almost half of Moon missions fail. Why is space still so hard?

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Space technology

Context:

The Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully touching down near the south pole of Earth’s rocky neighbour.

An exclusive club:

The Moon is the only celestial location humans have visited so far.
Only four countries have achieved successful “soft landings” – landings in which the spacecraft survives – on the lunar surface.

Missions from Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Russia, the European Space Agency, Luxembourg, South Korea and Italy have also had some measure of lunar success with fly-bys, orbiters and impacts.

Crashes are not uncommon:

Communication with the Luna 25 spacecraft was interrupted on 19 August 2023.
In April 2019, the Israeli Beresheet lander crash-landed after a gyroscope failed during the braking procedure, and the ground control crew was unable to reset the component due to a loss of communications.
In September 2019, India sent its own Vikram lander down to the surface of the Moon – but it did not survive the landing.

Despite challenges, why ISRO chose the south pole for soft-landing?

There is strong evidence that the lunar south pole has the presence of ice molecules in it.
- The ancient water ice present could also provide a record of lunar volcanoes and origins of oceans.
- The water, if it exists in sufficient quantities, could be a source of drinking water for explorers and keep equipment cool.
- The water could be broken down to produce hydrogen and oxygen, which would be monumental in space exploration missions and Mars missions.
Moreover, the south pole could hold volatiles such as ammonia and methane.
This extremely-cold – in fact, frozen – region could have potentially preserved clues to the earlier days of the Solar System.

Space is still risky:

Just over 50% of lunar missions succeed.
Even small satellite missions to Earth’s orbit don’t have a perfect track record, with a success rate somewhere between 40% and 70%.
Crewed missions are more successful (around 98% success rate). Due to:
- Ground staff working to support a crewed mission will be more focused,
- Management will invest more resources, and
- Delays will be accepted to prioritise the safety of the crew.

Challenges in space travel: