About 1.4billion Indians and other space exploration enthusiasts across the globe are all glued to their television sets as India counts down to blast off Chandrayaan-3 today from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
This is India’s third lunar mission, conducted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
According to the ISRO website, Chandrayaan-3 will have three major objectives.
One is to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the surface of the moon.
The second is to demonstrate rover operations on the moon. And the third objective is to conduct in-situ scientific experiments on the lunar surface.
Therefore the world keenly waits for the launch of India’s Moon Mission Chandrayaan-3 at 2.35 pm on Friday.
ISRO has selected the region near the south pole for the landing. This region is of great scientific interest since it houses permanently shadowed craters that have the potential of holding water molecules in observable quantity.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that Chandrayaan-3 will be inserted into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory after the orbit raising maneuvers.
Covering over 300,000 km, Chandrayaan-3 will reach the Moon in the coming weeks. “Scientific instruments onboard will study the Moon’s surface and enhance our knowledge,” he 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,” Modi said.
