2023-08-23 11:39:07
It’s been almost four years since India’s last attempt to land on the Moon, ‘Chandrayaan-2’, ended in an accident. On Wednesday, India expects the Chandrayaan-3 unmanned mission to reach the lunar surface intact shortly after the failure of the Russian spacecraft Luna-25.
The stakes for Wednesday’s landing attempt have been amplified by Saturday’s crash of Luna-25, a Russian lunar lander that was due to land in the same region of the Moon as Chandrayaan- 3′.
When will the Indian ship land?
Landing on the moon is a very difficult task, and only the United States, the Soviet Union and China have succeeded. If India manages to land on the heels of Russia’s failure, it will highlight the country’s technological achievements, where they take great pride in their nation’s growing space program.
The Chandrayaan-3 lander is expected to reach the lunar surface on Wednesday at 3:34 p.m. (UTC).
The country’s space program, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), will provide a live broadcast from the mission control room in Bengaluru. The moon landing can be viewed on the YouTube channel or on the ISRO website starting at 2:50 p.m.
In addition to the propulsion module that pushed the spacecraft into lunar orbit, the ‘Chandrayaan’ consists of the ‘Vikram’ lander and the ‘Pragyan’ rover, which will attempt to land on the lunar surface in the south polar region of the Moon. . The mission is robotic and there are no astronauts on board.
The lunar poles could contain frozen water
The August 23 landing was selected because it is the day the sun will rise at the landing site. Also, the mission will conclude two weeks later, when the Sun sets. While on the surface, the lander and the solar power rover will make thermal, seismic and mineralogical measurements.
“Thanks to our scientists, India has a very rich history in the space sector,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after the launch of Chandrayaan-3 to the Moon last month, “this extraordinary mission will carry the hopes and the dreams of our nation”.
However, this mission will also be carried out to explore the Moon. Like India, many other lunar missions are targeting the south polar region of the satellite. Scientists believe it may contain ice water that could be used by astronauts in the future. If achieved, they would be the first measurements of that area of the Moon.
In a few days, this space race will continue with a new attempt by Japan, in this case by its space agency, to land in the equatorial areas with the ‘SLIM’ mission.
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