As the scientific community waits with bated breath for the successful third edition of India’s moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, the 25.30-hour countdown of the launch mission commenced on July 13.
The lunar expedition, scheduled for Friday (July 14) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, follows the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission where space scientists aimed for a soft landing on the surface of the moon.
Here is a quick look at how the country’s lunar expedition evolved over the years and ten interesting facts about it:
1. The Chandrayaan programme was conceived by the Government of India and formally announced by former Prime Minister, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee on August 15, 2003.
2. The mission is expected to incorporate several improvements based on the lessons learned from the Chandrayaan-2 expedition.
The Chandrayaan-2 mission failed to achieve the desired soft landing on the moon’s surface, leaving the ISRO team dejected.
3. A successful landing on the lunar surface would make India only the fourth country to achieve the feat after the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union.
4. Chandrayaan-3 features a Lander Module (LM), a Propulsion Module (PM), and a rover. The LM will facilitate a soft lunar landing, while the PM will handle propulsion and control. The rover’s role will be to explore the lunar surface and gather scientific data.
5. According to scientists, after the lift-off at 2.35 pm on Friday, around 16 minutes after lift-off, the propulsion module is expected to get separated from the rocket and would orbit the earth for about 5-6 times in an elliptical cycle with 170 km closest and 36,500 km farthest from earth moving towards the lunar orbit.
6. The propulsion module along with the lander, after gaining speed would proceed for an over a month-long journey towards reaching the orbit of the moon until it goes 100 km above the lunar surface.
7. After reaching the desired position, the lander module would begin its descent for a soft landing on the south pole region of the moon and this action is expected to take place on August 23 or 24, ISRO had earlier noted.
8. A day ahead of the Chandrayaan-3 mission,a team of ISRO scientistson July 13 visited and offered prayers at Tirupathi Venkatachalapathy Temple in Andhra Pradesh with a miniature model of Chandrayaan-3.
9. ISRO has also invited citizens to witness the launch of the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3 from the viewing gallery at Sriharikota.
10. A total number of 38 soft landing attempts have been made by space agencies in the world to soft-land on the moon, so far. The success rate is 52 percent.
