Written & Edited By : Aditi Mishra
23 August 2023 ( New Delhi) : Days after a Russian probe crashed in the same area, India may become the first country to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole. This would be a historic moment for the most populous country in the world as it moves closer to achieving goals established by other major space powers.
On Wednesday, right after 6 pm India time (12:30 GMT), Chandrayaan-3, which means “Mooncraft” in Sanskrit, is planned to land close to the little-known lunar south pole. The new attempt by India comes only days after Russia’s first moon mission in almost 50 years, which was headed for the same region, crashed on the lunar surface. An earlier Indian attempt in 2019 was unsuccessful.
The most recent photographs the lander sent home, according to former Indian space chief K Sivan, however, offered every indication the mission’s final leg would be successful.
When the previous lunar module lost touch with scientists just before it was supposed to arrive four years ago, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) made adjustments, according to Sivan.
“Chandrayaan-3 is going to go with more ruggedness,” he declared. “We’re confident that everything will go as planned, and we expect it to.”
The Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived at the moon in a matter of days, were far faster than this mission, which was launched over six weeks ago in front of thousands of enthusiastic spectators.
The probe must orbit the Earth multiple times to pick up speed before launching on its month-long lunar course since India is utilizing rockets that are significantly less powerful than those the United States utilized at the time.
Sanskrit for “valor,” the spacecraft’s lander Vikram separated from its propulsion module last week and has been sending back pictures of the moon’s surface ever since it entered lunar orbit on August 5.
Sivan, the former ISRO chief, said India’s efforts to explore the relatively unmapped lunar south pole would make a “very, very important” contribution to scientific knowledge Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved a controlled landing on the lunar surface.
