The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) ambitious third Moon mission, Lander Module (LM) of Chandrayaan 3, is all set to land on the lunar surface today evening.
The Chandrayaan 3 spacecraft comprises a propulsion module (weighing 2,148 kg), a lander (1,723.89 kg), and a rover (26 kg).
“Chandrayaan 3 Mission:
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 17:20 Hrs. IST on August 23, 2023.
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 tweeted.
The landing can be watched live on the official ISRO website, its official YouTube channel, etc.
The main purpose of India’s third moon mission, Chandrayaan 3, costing about Rs 600 crore, is to land the lander softly on the moon.
The Chandrayaan-2 mission failed as the lander called ‘Vikram’ crashed onto the moon.
According to ISRO, the lander is expected to make a soft landing near the South Pole of the moon on August 23 at 5:47 p.m.
The lander will descend to the moon from a height of about 100 km from the moon’s surface.
Soft landing is a tricky issue as it involves a series of complex maneuvers consisting of rough and fine braking.
Subsequent to the soft landing, the six-wheeled rover will roll out and carry out experiments on the lunar surface for a period of one lunar day, which is equal to 14 earth days.
Chandrayaan 3 was put into orbit on July 14 in a copybook style by India’s heavy lift rocket LVM3.
The spacecraft completed orbiting around the earth and headed towards the moon on August 1.
With inputs from IANS
