Chandrayaan-3: Lander successfully separates from propulsion module

Indias Chandrayaan3 mission marked another giant leap in its lunar quest as the Vikram lander module of the spacecraft successfully separated from the propulsion module on ThursdayThe Chandrayaan3 missions lander is named after Vikram Sarabhai who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programmeOn Wednesday the spacecraft carried out the final lunarbound orbit reduction manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan3 spacecraft a week ahead of its scheduled landing on the south pole of the moon on August 23A GSLV Mark 3 LVM 3 heavylift launch vehicle was used for the launch of the spacecraft that was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5 and since then it has been through a series of orbital manoeuvres been lowered closer to the moon surfaceIt has been a month and two days since the Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Chandrayaan3 mission on July 14 The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh SriharikotaISRO is bidding to make a successful soft landing on the moon which will make India the fourth country in the world to achieve the feat after the United States Russia and ChinaChandrayaan3 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 othersThe stated objectives of Chandrayaan3 Indias third lunar mission 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 costChandrayaan3 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 moreDuring 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 ISROMeanwhile the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO S Somanath last week expressed confidence in the progress of the Chandrayaan 3 providing reassurance that all systems were 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 Earth 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 beyondHistorically 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 regionThis 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 managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever