Chandrayaan-3 to land on Moon tomorrow

NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday said that Chandrayaan-3 would land on the Moon at 06:04 pm tomorrow (23).

After Russia’s Luna-25 crashed on the Moon, the Chandrayaan-3 is set to be the first to land on the South Pole of the Moon.

ISRO is going to stream the landing live on YouTube and other social media platforms like Facebook.

Chandrayaan-3 completed the second and final de-boosting in the Moon’s orbit on Saturday, which was the final step before the landing on the Moon.

Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled to land tomorrow (23) as that’s the day when the new Lunar Day would start. To maximise the time spent on the Moon conducting experiments, Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover would land in the morning. The span of their mission on the Moon is around 15 Earth-days (one Lunar Day).

In a tweet on Saturday, ISRO said that the descent of Chandrayaan-3 would start at 05.45 pm on August 23. The descent of the spacecraft on the Moon involves systemic slowing down of the descending craft until it lands. Chandrayaan-3 is India’s second attempt to land on the Moon. Earlier in 2019, Chandrayaan-2 failed as the spacecraft crashed on the Moon. Chandrayaan-1 was intentionally crashed into Moon in 2009 into the Moon’s South Pole region and a US instrument aboard the Indian craft confirmed the presence of ice on Moon.

The South Pole of the Moon is the area of interest for the world as key future missions are planned there, including the Artemis-III that would take humans to the Moon for the first time in five decades in 2025-26. The South Pole is the shadowy region of the Moon that remains unexplored by any craft. In a message on Sunday, the ISRO said the landing of Chandrayaan-3 “marks a significant step forward for Indian science, engineering, technology, and industry, symbolising our nation’s progress in space exploration”.

“The soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 is a monumental moment that not only fuels curiosity but also sparks a passion for exploration within the minds of our youth. It generates a profound sense of pride and unity as we collectively celebrate the prowess of Indian science and technology. It will contribute to fostering an environment of scientific inquiry and innovation,” said ISRO in a statement. (Outlook)

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