The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will embark on its second attempt to carry out a soft touchdown of a robotic lander on the surface of the moon on Friday with the launch of the Chandrayaan 3 spacecraft on board the LVM3 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
If the soft-landing succeeds, India will become the fourth country in the world to have achieved this.
Ahead of the launch, scheduled for 14.35 pm Friday from the second launch pad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has underlined the significance of Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission.
In a tweet thread, the Prime Minister said :
“14th July 2023 will always be etched in golden letters as far as India’s space sector is concerned. Chandrayaan-3, our third lunar mission, will embark on its journey. This remarkable mission will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation.
Chandrayaan-3 will be inserted into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory after the orbit raising maneuvers. Covering over 300,000 km, it will reach the Moon in the coming weeks. Scientific instruments onboard will study the Moon’s surface and enhance our knowledge.
Thanks to our scientists, India has a very rich history in the space sector. Chandrayaan-1 is considered to be a path breaker among global lunar missions as it confirmed the presence of water molecules on the moon. It featured in over 200 scientific publications around the world.
Till Chandrayaan-1, the moon was believed to be a bone-dry, geologically inactive and uninhabitable celestial body. Now, it is seen as a dynamic and geologically active body with the presence of water and sub-surface ice. Maybe in the future, it can be potentially inhabited!
Chandrayaan-2 was equally pathbreaking because data from the Orbiter associated with it detected the presence of chromium, manganese and sodium for the first time through remote sensing. This will also provide more insights into the moon’s magmatic evolution.
The key scientific outcomes from Chandrayaan 2 include the first ever global map for lunar sodium, enhancing knowledge on crater size distribution, unambiguous detection of lunar surface water ice with IIRS instrument and more. This Mission has featured in almost 50 publications.
Best wishes for Chandrayaan-3 mission! I urge you all to know more about this Mission and the strides we have made in space, science and innovation. It will make you all very proud.”
