Chandrayaan-3: A week away from scheduled landing on Moon's surface

With the launch of Chandrayaan3 the Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO is embarking to achieve a successful soft landing on the Moon India aims to become the fourth country in the world to achieve this feat joining the ranks of the United States Russia and ChinaChandrayaan3 is Indias third lunar mission and second attempt at achieving a soft landing on the Moons surface It is a followon to the unsuccessful 2019 lunar mission Chandrayaan2 It will demonstrate Indias endtoend capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surfaceThe Chandrayaan3 spacecraft which was launched on GSLV Mark 3 LVM 3 heavylift launch vehicle successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradeshs Sriharikota on July 14 is scheduled to land on the surface of the moon on August 23The spacecraft has recently covered about twothirds of the distance to the Moon and is currently undergoing a series of orbit manoeuvresChandrayaan3 components include various electronic and mechanical subsystems intended to ensure a safe and soft landing such as navigation sensors propulsion systems guidance and control among others Additionally there are mechanisms for the release of rover twoway communicationrelated antennas and other onboard electronicsThe stated objectives of Chandrayaan3 are safe and soft landing rover roving on the moons surface and insitu scientific experimentsThe approved cost of Chandrayaan3 is Rs 250 crores excluding launch vehicle costChandrayaan3s development phase commenced in January 2020 with the launch planned sometime in 2021 However the Covid19 pandemic brought an unforeseen delay to the missions progressChandrayaan3 is the ISROs followup attempt after the Chandrayaan2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was eventually deemed to have failed its core mission objectivesThe key scientific outcomes from Chandrayaan2 include the firstever global map for lunar sodium enhancing knowledge on crater size distribution unambiguous detection of lunar surface water ice with IIRS instrument and more The mission has been featured in almost 50 publicationsDuring the Chandrayaan1 mission the satellite made more than 3400 orbits around the moon and the mission was concluded when the communication with the spacecraft was lost on August 29 2009 according to the Indian Space Research Organisation ISROChairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO S Somanath last week expressed confidence in the progress of the forthcoming lunar mission Chandrayaan 3 providing reassurance that all systems are operating as plannedChairman S Somanath stated Everything is going fine now There will be a series of manoeuvres until it lands on the Moon on 23rd August The satellite is healthyMoon serves as a repository of the Earths past and a successful lunar mission by India will help enhance life on Earth while also enabling it to explore the rest of the solar system and beyondK Sivan former director of ISRO earlier told ANI that the success of mission Chandrayan3 will give a morale boost to programmes like Gaganyan Indias first manned space missionFormer ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan who has been instrumental in the countrys space sector innovation had before the lift of the satellite said the Chandrayaan3 mission is going to be successful and a gamechanger event for IndiaChandrayaan3 will definitely be a game changer for India and I hope it will be successful India will become an inspiration to the entire world Lets wait for the launch and pray for the best Nambi Narayanan had told ANINarayanan is the scientist who led a team to develop the Vikas Engine a mainstay of all Indian rockets and help the country enter into the era of PSLV rocketsIm assuming and I hope that it will be a successful mission Because whatever the problem in Chandrayaan2 actually we corrected the whole thing From the failure we have understood all mistakes on our partNarayanan the recipient of Indias third highest civilian honour Padma Bhushan told ANIHistorically spacecraft missions to the Moon have primarily targeted the equatorial region due to its favourable terrain and operating conditions However the lunar south pole presents a vastly different and more challenging terrain compared to the equatorial regionSunlight is scarce in certain polar regions resulting in perpetually dark areas where temperatures can reach 230 degrees Celsius This lack of sunlight and extreme cold pose difficulties for instrument operation and sustainabilityThe lunar south pole offers extreme and contrasting conditions that pose challenges for humans but it makes them potential repositories of valuable information about the early Solar System It is crucial to explore this region which could impact future deep space explorationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday 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