If Conditions Are Unfavorable on August 23, Chandrayaan-3 Landing Could Be Moved to August 27: ISRO Scientist

The landing of Chandrayaan-3 would be postponed until August 27 if any aspect of the lander module appears to be unfavorable, the Space Applications Centre-ISRO announced on Monday.

The decision on the landing would be made based on the state of the lander module and the lunar environment, according to Nilesh M. Desai, director of the ISRO’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad.

“We will determine whether it will be appropriate to land Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon at that time based on the health of the lander module and the conditions on the Moon on August 23, two hours before it is scheduled to touch down. We will land the module on the Moon on August 27 if any unfavorable circumstances arise. We will be able to land the module on August 23 if there are no issues, according to Director Desai.

Today in New Delhi, ISRO Chairman and Secretary of the Department of Space S. Somanath met with Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Atomic Energy, and Space Jitendra Singh to inform him of the readiness of “Chandrayaan-3” for the August 23, 2023 moon landing.

The minister was updated by the chairman of ISRO on the condition of Chandrayaan-3, who is now operating flawlessly and without any contingencies planned for Wednesday.

The condition of Chandrayaan-3 will be closely watched throughout the course of the following two days. According to him, the final landing sequence will be loaded two days beforehand and tested.

During the meeting, Minister Jitendra Singh expressed his optimism that “Chandrayaan-3” would write a new chapter in the history of planetary exploration while operating under the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to ISRO, the Chandrayaan-3 will touch down on the moon on August 23, 2023, at approximately 18:04 IST.

Starting at 17:27 IST on August 23, 2023, live actions will be aired on the ISRO website, its YouTube page, Facebook, and public television station DD National TV.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission was only “partially successful” because the lander lost contact during a rough landing, but the ISRO was able to establish two-way communication between the Chandrayaan-3 lander module and the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which is still in orbit. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which was already locked around the moon, established a two-way link with the landing module of Chandrayaan-3 on Monday, which was a significant development.

The ISRO earlier today released fresh pictures of the Chandrayaan-3’s Chandrayaan-3 region of the lunar far side.

After the United States, Russia, and China, India will be the fourth nation in the world to accomplish this accomplishment, but it will be the only nation ever to touch down on the lunar south pole.

The three main goals of the Chandrayaan-3 mission are to show a soft and safe lunar surface landing, lunar rover wandering, and to carry out in-situ scientific investigations.

The development phase of Chandrayaan-3 began in January 2020, and the launch was scheduled for some time in 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, caused an unanticipated delay in the mission’s advancement.

Jitendra Singh recalled that the first of the Chandrayaan spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, is credited with discovering the existence of water on the Moon’s surface. This was a groundbreaking discovery for the entire world, and even the most prestigious space agencies, like the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) of the USA, were enthralled by this finding and used the information for their subsequent experiments.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14, 2023, at 2:35 PM from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, using the GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle.

Former director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and in-charge of the previous lunar mission “Chandrayaan-2,” K Sivan, earlier today predicted that the mission will be a “grand success” ahead of the much anticipated soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the Moon.

“This is an extremely stressful time…I have no doubt that it will be a huge success this time,” Sivan told ANI.

“We have a mechanism of our own, and a soft landing will be established without any issues. In response to a query on whether there would be any consequences following the failure of Russia’s Luna-25 mission, he said, “But it is a difficult procedure. The Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and collided with the moon on Sunday, ending Russia’s moon mission.

He said that after reviewing the Chandrayaan-2 mission’s findings, corrective actions had been made. When questioned about if those extra systems were indigenous as well, Sivan responded, “Everything is indigenous.”

Earlier today, the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC) of the ISRO spacecraft published pictures of the lunar far side region. During the descent, this camera helps locate a secure landing spot free of stones and deep ditches.

Notably, the spacecraft’s ‘Vikram’ lander module just completed a successful separation from the propulsion module, undertook critical deboosting maneuvers, and sank to a somewhat lower orbit. The lander for the Chandrayaan-3 project bears Vikram Sarabhai’s name. Vikram Sarabhai, who lived from 1939 to 1971, is widely regarded as the founder of the Indian space program.

The spacecraft was launched on August 5 into lunar orbit using a GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle, and since then it has been lowered closer to the moon’s surface through a series of orbital manoeuvres.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched by the Indian Space Research Organization on July 14 and has been in orbit for one month and seven days. The Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, served as the launchpad for the spacecraft.

Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission, has as its declared goals a gentle and secure landing, lunar surface wandering, and in-situ scientific investigations.

Chandrayaan-3 will cost 250 crores of rupees, launch vehicle costs not included.

The development phase of Chandrayaan-3 began in January 2020, and the launch was scheduled for some time in 2021. The COVID-19 epidemic, however, caused an unanticipated delay in the mission’s progress.

The first-ever worldwide map of lunar sodium, improved knowledge of crater size distribution, unmistakable detection of lunar surface water ice with IIRS instrument, and more are some of the major scientific achievements from Chandrayaan-2.