Chandrayaan-3 Moon Mission: Lunar surface touchdown at 6.04 pm on Aug. 23

ISRO's ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander module will touch down on the surface of the moon a little after 6 pm on Aug. 23. 

ISRO on Sunday said it has successfully reduced the orbit of Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander module, keeping the soft landing on schedule. The space agency said the lander module would undergo internal checks ahead of the planned soft landing.

The lander module (LM), comprising the lander ‘Vikram' and rover ‘Pragyan’, is expected to touch down on the lunar surface on Wednesday, at 18.04 hours. 

Earlier ISRO had said that the touchdown would take place at 5.47 pm on August 23. Now, it has been moved by 17 minutes. The powered descent is expected to commence on Aug. 23, 2023, around 1745 hrs IST.

Annapurni Subramaniam, Director, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, says the mission has crossed many small, but very important steps and is going very well. 

"We have crossed many many small steps, but very important steps. One of them is search of lunar orbit. We have done it. We have been also continuously reducing the altitude during clusters. So deboosting that's what we are calling it. So, that is going on very well and this kind of thing we have been doing very well."

The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are to achieve safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate the rover's mobility on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments. 

The lander and the rover are carrying scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface. 

ISRO says Chandrayaan-3 mission's soft landing marks a significant step forward for Indian Science, Engineering, Technology, and Industry, symbolising the nation's progress in space exploration. (PTI)