Chandrayaan-3: Preparations Begin for Moon Soft Landing
India's bold mission to the moon, called Chandrayaan-3, is right on schedule.
India's bold mission to the moon, called Chandrayaan-3, is right on schedule. The countdown has begun, and in just three days, the spacecraft will reach its important destination: the southern part of the moon. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has confirmed that the historic landing on the moon's southern area is planned for 6:04 pm on August 23. If successful, this achievement will make India the fourth country in the world, after the United States, Russia, and China, to achieve this feat.
The decision about the moon landing of Chandrayaan-3 will be made two hours before the scheduled touchdown on Wednesday, as stated by a senior ISRO official.
Earlier, ISRO shared that the Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander module has effectively communicated with the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. The lander also provided images of the far side of the moon, taken by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC).
The live broadcast of the landing event will start at 5:20 pm on Wednesday, according to the latest update from the space agency. The Chairman of ISRO, S Somnath, met with Union Minister Jitendra Singh to discuss Chandrayaan-3's readiness for the moon landing on August 23. Somnath reassured that all systems are functioning well and the final landing sequence will be loaded and tested two days before the event.
Chandrayaan-3's lander is capable of communicating with both the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN). The IDSN consists of antennas and communication facilities positioned in Ramanagara district, serving interplanetary spacecraft missions. A rover weighing 26 kg accompanies the lander.
The fate of the lunar landing will be decided two hours before the official touchdown on Wednesday, based on the health of the lander module and the moon's conditions, said Nilesh M Desai, Director of Space Applications Centre-ISRO.
Chandrayaan-3, launched on July 14, aims to demonstrate safe landing and surface exploration on the moon. Unfortunately, the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019 faced a crash landing on the moon's surface, making its soft landing unsuccessful. However, the orbiter's mission life was extended to seven years due to precise launch and maneuvers.
Former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair described the upcoming touchdown as a complex maneuver and discussed plans for data collection and future planetary exploration.
Both Nair and former ISRO chairman K Sivan confirmed that Russia's Luna-25 mission mishap wouldn't affect Chandrayaan-3. Luna-25 veered into an uncontrolled orbit and crashed into the Moon, as reported by Roscosmos space agency.
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