Hyderabad: Chandrayaan3 Mission is on schedule, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in its latest update about its lunar mission, which is expected to touchdown at 6.04 pm on Wednesday, Aug. 23.
The mission is on schedule. Systems are undergoing regular checks. Smooth sailing is continuing. The Mission Operations Complex (MOX) is buzzed with energy & excitement! The live telecast of the landing operations at MOX/ISTRAC begins at 5.20 pm IST, the ISRO said in a post in X, formerly known as Twitter.
Here are the images of the moon captured by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) from an altitude of about 70 km, on August 19, 2023. LPDC images assist the Lander Module in determining its position (latitude and longitude) by matching them against an onboard moon reference map, ISRO said, sharing a video.
Here is the link to the video:
ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 is a follow on mission to Chandrayaan- 2 and its Lander Module (LM) is all set to land on the lunar surface on Wednesday evening. If done, India will become the first country to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.
The LM comprises the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan). The Module is scheduled to make a soft-landing near the south polar region of the earth's lone satellite at 6:04 pm tomorrow (Aug. 23, 2023).
A successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission of the robotic lunar rover will be ISRO's second attempt in four years, making India the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.
The mission objectives include demonstration of safe and soft-landing on the lunar surface, roving on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
It is pertinent to note that Chandrayaan-2 had failed in its lunar phase when its lander 'Vikram' crashed into the surface of the Moon. The module developed anomalies in the braking system in the lander while attempting a touch down on Sept. 7, 2019. Chandrayaan's maiden mission was in 2008.
The Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 onboard Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket, for a 41-day voyage to reach near the lunar south pole.
The soft-landing is being attempted days after Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control. (with PTI inputs)
