Chandrayaan-3: Countdown Starts for Soft Landing on Moon; Indians Wait With Bated Breath

India’s ambitious lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, is right on track, with the countdown commencing on Monday, bringing the spacecraft merely two days away from its momentous destination: the moon’s south pole. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has confirmed that the historic touchdown on the Moon’s southern extremity is slated for 6:04 pm on August 23. This achievement, if successful, will elevate India to become the fourth nation globally to accomplish this feat, joining the ranks of the United States, Russia and China.

The crucial decision regarding the landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon will be determined just two hours prior to the scheduled touchdown on Wednesday, a senior ISRO official said.

The statement came hours after ISRO announced that the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander module has successfully established communication with the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and shared images of the lunar far side area, captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC).

Here’s All You Need to Know About Chandrayaan-3 Updates

• Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander module established communication with the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and shared images of the moon. “Welcome, buddy!’ Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM. Two-way communication between the two is established. MOX has now more routes to reach the LM," ISRO said in a post on ‘X’.

• The space agency also shared images of the ‘lunar far side area’ captured by the LHDAC camera. This camera, which aids in identifying a secure landing area free from boulders or deep trenches during the descent, has been developed by ISRO.

• The space agency in its latest update has stated that the live telecast of the landing event will begin at 5.20 pm on Wednesday.
• ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) Chairman S Somnath met Union Minister Jitendra Singh in New Delhi and apprised him of the status and readiness of Chandrayaan-3 for the moon landing scheduled on August 23. Singh was briefed on the health status of Chandrayaan-3 and was told “all systems are working perfectly and no contingencies are anticipated on Wednesday." “In the next two days, the health of Chandrayaan-3 will be continuously monitored. The final sequence of landing will be loaded two days ahead and tested out," Somnath said.
• According to specifications, the Chandrayaan-3 lander possesses the capability to communicate with both the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN). The IDSN comprises an array of expansive antennas and communication facilities strategically positioned at Byalalu in Ramanagara district, serving the purpose of supporting India’s interplanetary spacecraft missions. Accompanying the Vikram lander is a 26 kg Pragyan rover. The Mission Operations Complex (MOX) is situated at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru.
  
  
• Nilesh M Desai, Director of Space Applications Centre-ISRO, Ahmedabad said the fate of the lunar landing will be decided two hours before the official touchdown on Wednesday. “On August 23, two hours before Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled to land, we will make a decision on whether it is appropriate to proceed with the landing based on the health of the lander module and the conditions on the Moon. If any factors appear to be unfavorable, we will defer the module’s landing to August 27. Our aim is a trouble-free landing and we remain confident about executing the module’s landing on August 23," he said.
• National Award winning actor Prakash Raj landed in controversy over his post on X mocking Chandrayaan-3 depicting a man in a shirt and sarong pouring tea. He captioned the cartoon in Kannada, writing, “Latest news: First view just arrived from the Chandrayaan #VikramLander #justasking".
  
  
  

  
  

  “Hate sees only Hate… i was referring to a joke of #Armstrong times.. celebrating our Kerala Chaiwala.. which Chaiwala did the TROLLS see?? .. if you don’t get a joke then the joke is on you.. Grow up #justasking(sic)," Raj wrote in a subsequent post.

• Launched on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 is a subsequent mission following Chandrayaan-2, aiming to showcase the complete capability of safe landing and surface exploration on the moon. The lander and rover’s operational span is equivalent to one lunar day or approximately 14 earth days.
  
  
• Back in 2019, the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, consisting of an orbiter, lander, and rover, was launched. Unfortunately, the lander, carrying the rover, faced a crash landing on the moon’s surface, rendering its soft-landing mission unsuccessful. However, ISRO had noted in 2019 that due to the precision of the launch and orbital maneuvers, the orbiter’s mission life has been extended to a period of seven years.
• Former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, who headed the space agency when Chandrayaan-1 mission was launched in 2008, said the expected touchdown is a very complex manoeuvre. “It’s a very complex manoeuvre. We narrowly missed it (soft-landing on the Moon in Chandrayaan-2 mission) in the last two kilometres (above the lunar surface),” he said.
• He also elaborated on the future course of trajectory with regards to the data collected and ISRO’s next phase of planetary exploration. “Data we may collect from the (lunar) surface will be useful in identifying some minerals…rare minerals, if at all, helium-3 and so on. Also, try to have some investigations as to what type of setup we can have near the lunar south pole either for exploration or human presence. It (successful soft-landing) is going to be a big beginning for ISRO’s next phase of planetary exploration”, he said.
• Nair, along with another former ISRO chairman K Sivan, affirmed that the mishap with Russia’s Luna-25 moon mission would not affect Chandrayaan-3. Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft veered into an uncontrolled orbit and subsequently crashed into the Moon, as reported by the country’s Roscosmos space agency on August 20.