ISRO hopeful of successful landing of Chandrayaan-3

ISRO CBPO director, Sudheer Kumar N said that Chandrayaan-3 has successfully completed another crucial operation, bringing the spacecraft closer to the surface of the moon. He said that he hopes the spacecraft makes a soft landing on the Moon on August 23.

Sambalpur (Odisha): Indian Space Research Organisation Capacity Building and Public Outreach (CBPO) Director Sudheer Kumar N, expressed hope for the successful landing of Chandryaan-3. He said that Chandyraan-3 has successfully undergone an orbit reduction bringing it closer to the Moon

While attending a seminar on rocketry and space program at Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) in Odisha, Kumar said "The scientists at the ISRO learnt from the mistakes of Chandrayaan-2 and tried to improve them using the latest technology in the recent lunar Indian Space Research exploration mission."

Kumar said, "We hope Vikram, the lander of Chandrayaan-3 will be able to make a soft landing on the surface of the Moon on August 23 at 5:37 pm. We are continuously monitoring the spacecraft." Keeping in mind the failures and mistakes of Chandrayaan-2, we have made all the necessary changes using the latest technology. We are now implementing all the activities required for the landing. We have made the required improvements in the technology for Chandrayaan-3, Kumar added.

Talking about the emotions attached to the spacecraft, Kumar said, "Science and emotions are two different things. Obviously, when we work on something for a long and with so much dedication, we get attached to it. It is a personal thing. But, science demands proof and clarifications. We can't mix science and emotions. In science, we need to learn from our mistakes and correct them."

The Chandrayaan 3 mission which was launched on July 14 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota has been making progress steadily towards making a successful landing on the Moon's surface. Marking a significant milestone in the mission, the spacecraft on August 5 entered lunar orbit.

The latest operation involves the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft undergoing another orbit reduction manoeuvre and moving closer to the surface of the Moon. According to ISRO sources, the spacecraft will undergo two more reduction manoeuvres to get closer to the Moon. These manoeuvres will be performed on August 14 and 16 to reach 100 km orbit. After this, the lander is expected to undergo a process of slowing down and make a soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon on August 23.