Chandrayaan-3 is prepared to land on the south pole of the Moon on Wednesday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to join the landing programme virtually from South Africa, where he is attending the 15th BRICS Summit.
The Indian Space Research Organisation's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) will land on the lunar surface on Wednesday evening. If all goes well, India will become the first country to reach the uncharted south pole of the Moon.
The LM comprising lander Vikram and the rover (Pragyan), is scheduled to touch down near the south polar region of the Moon at 6:04 pm tomorrow. India will be the fourth country to make soft landing on the lunar surface; the other countries are the US, China, and the Soviet Union (erstwhile).
This is India’s second attempt to reach Moon’s surface. Chandrayaan-2, ISRO’s last moon mission in 2019, had failed in its lunar phase when its lander 'Vikram' crashed into the lunar surface following anomalies in the braking system in the lander while attempting a touchdown.
PM Modi has, then, flown down to Bengaluru to watch the landing. He hugged and consoled former ISRO chief K Sivan after Chandrayaan-2’s failure.
Chandrayaan's maiden moon mission was in 2008.
The landing module of Chandrayaan-3 successfully separated from the Propulsion Module on August 17, 35 days after the satellite was launched on July 14. Meanwhile, the Propulsion Module, whose main function was to carry the Lander Module from launch vehicle injection till lander separation orbit, will continue its journey in the current orbit for months/years, the space agency said.
ISRO has also said that if any factor regarding the lander module appears unfavourable, then the landing of Chandrayaan-3 will be shifted to August 27.
