Sriharikota, ANDHRA PRADESH : India is on way to becoming only the fourth country worldwide to achieve the complicated soft-landing of its spacecraft on the moon’s surface, the others being US, Russia and China.
Chandrayaan, meaning “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh a little after 2:30 pm this afternoon and reached its first orbit in the 22nd minute. The Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) Chairman S Somanath said Chandrayaan-3 is in “precise orbit” and “begun its journey to the moon”, adding that it is a proud moment for the country.
The ISRO engineers have been working on the launch for years and with Chandrayaan-3 take-off today, it would be India’s first controlled landing on moon. The spacecraft is estimated to make moon-landing on 23rd of August.
This is India’s second attempt at soft landing. Earlier, Chandrayaan-2 launch failed in 2019. The first lunar probe, Chandrayaan - 1, orbited the moon and then was deliberately crash-landed onto its surface in 2008. Soft landing is accomplished by self-controlled system aided by sensors.
Chandrayaan - 3 comprises a land, propulsion module and rover. Upon landing, it is designed to collect data and conduct a series of scientific experiments to learn more about moon’s composition.
