Chandrayaan-3 to take off on July 13, landing moves in August

The landing site for the integrated Vikram lander and Pragyan rover will remain the same as the previous mission: near the south pole of the moon at 70 degrees latitude. If successful, Chandrayaan-3 will become the first mission to soft land near the southern pole of the moon.

ISRO's Chandrayaan 3 mission to the Moon could launch on July 13. (Representational image, file)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

INDIA’S THIRD lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 will be launched from the country’s only spaceport Sriharikota on July 13 at 2.30 pm, senior officials said on Wednesday. The spacecraft will travel just over a month and likely land on the surface of the moon around August 23.

The landing site for the integrated Vikram lander and Pragyan rover will remain the same as the previous mission: near the south pole of the moon at 70 degrees latitude. If successful, Chandrayaan-3 will become the first mission to soft land near the southern pole of the moon.

The site was selected as it has several craters that remain permanently in shadows, increasing the chances of examining water ice. Chandrayaan 1, which also carried NASA payloads, was instrumental in confirming the presence of water and hydroxyl (OH) molecules on the moon.

Story continues below this ad

The mission will also make India the fourth country in the world to achieve soft landing on the moon after the US, Russia and China.

Also Read | Coming, Artemis Accords, ISRO-NASA mission

The position remains open for India as the lander missions by Israel and Japan that were launched since the previous Chandrayaan mission also failed. The current mission will follow a similar trajectory to what was planned for the previous mission, with the orbit of the spacecraft being raised several times till it slingshots out of Earth’s gravity. Once the spacecraft reaches the moon and is captured in its gravity, the orbit will be lowered to a 100×100 km circular orbit before making the descent.

The descent phase of the vehicle had been described as “15 minutes of terror” by the previous ISRO chairperson K Sivan.

With the orbiter from the previous mission already in place around the moon, the spacecraft will fly only the lander-rover configuration sitting atop a propulsion module. “The lander-rover configuration has remained more or less the same; more sensors have been added to ensure the mission goes as planned. Several tests were also conducted to ensure that the mission is a success,” said a senior official.

Story continues below this ad

Chandrayaan 2, which was planned to demonstrate soft landing and roving, crash landed 2.1 km from the surface of the moon.

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More

Tags:
Chandrayaan