The Vikram Lander is expected to land on the moon on August 23, 2023
These stunning images were taken when Chandrayaan 3 entered the moon’s orbit on August 5, 2023. Chandrayaan-3, the third and most recent lunar Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) exploration mission will begin its most critical phase when the spacecraft starts moving closer to the moon from the 100 km circular orbit.
This is the third time in succession that ISRO has successfully inserted its spacecraft into the lunar orbit, apart from doing so into the Martian orbit. Launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 14, 2023, aboard the LVM-3 rocket, this lunar mission is currently placed in a 170 km by 4,313 km elliptical orbit around the moon.
Chandrayaan-3 has covered over 300,000 kilometres in space between Earth and the Moon now. In the next 10 days, a precise landing site near the moon’s south pole will be determined. Subsequently, the propulsion module will detach from the lander while in orbit.
Following this, the lander will descend from orbit and make a soft landing attempt. The Vikram Lander is expected to land on the moon on August 23, 2023.
ISRO is closely monitoring the lunar landing schedule, considering factors like the moon’s sunrise. If needed, the landing may be rescheduled for September. The ISRO chief said while Chandrayaan-2 was only a partial success, the learnings are proving to be useful for this mission.
Images of the moon from the Chandrayaan-2 mission are being used this time for better understanding of landing area measurements. If successful, India will be the first country to perform a controlled “soft landing” near the south pole. It will also become only the fourth to achieve a soft landing on the Moon after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.
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