Navya Naveli, Pune
A senior scientist at The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced that the Vikram lander module of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is all set to land on the Moon’s surface on August 23 at 6 p.m. However, if the conditions are unfavorable, the national space agency’s plan will be postponed to August 27.
The Director of the ISRO’s Space Applications Centre, Nilesh M. Desai, told ANI that they would decide two hours before Chandrayaan-3 landed and touched the surface of the Moon on whether it will be appropriate to make the landing at that particular time. They will have to consider the health of the lander module and see if the moon’s surface condition is favorable before landing. If any trace of unfavorable circumstances or difficulties emerges, the module’s landing on the Moon will be shifted.
However, M. Desai was very optimistic and had full confidence that the mission’s lander module, Vikram, would make a landing on the surface on time according to the initial schedule.
S.Somanath, the chairman of ISRO and Secretary Department of Space stated that the condition of Chandrayaan-3 will be monitored continuously for the next two days. He also mentioned the present status of Chandrayaan-3, affirming everything is perfect and is working as anticipated.
In addition, contact has also been made with Jitendra Singh in New Delhi, the Union Minister of State in the Department of Science and Technology, Atomic Energy and Space, to inform him about the current status and to tell him that ‘Chandrayaan-3’ is ready to make a landing on the Moon as scheduled on August 23, 2023.
According to the information from ISRO, the lander will touch the surface after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, i.e., August 23. India will join the elite list, the United States, Russia, and China as the only nation to accomplish a smooth landing on the Moon’s surface if the mission succeeds. Considering Russia’s recent failure of Luna-25 to have a smooth landing and India’s destination decided destination, it gets the opportunity to be the first country to touch the Moon’s south pole and have a soft landing.
On July 14, Chandrayaan-3 was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDCC), an ISRO facility in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.