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ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 sets course for moon

The spacecraft is expected to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface around August 23 or August 24

NEW DELHI: On July 14 at 2:35 pm, the Launch Vehicle Mark – III (LVM3) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully lifted off from Sriharikota, marking India’s third attempt to reach the Moon.

The Chandrayaan 3 spacecraft, which separated from the LVM3 after fifteen minutes, is now on its way to the Moon.

The spacecraft, valued at ₹615 crore, consists of a lander and rover and is expected to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface around August 23 or August 24, according to ISRO.

If successful, India will become the fourth nation, following the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, to accomplish a soft landing on the Moon.

Notably, the Chandrayaan-3 mission aims to land near the South Pole region of the Moon, a feat no country has achieved before. Once the lander reaches the designated lunar site, it will deploy the rover, which will conduct a chemical analysis of the lunar surface.

This mission is a follow-up to the Chandrayaan-2 mission launched in 2019, which provided valuable data but fell short of its primary objective of landing on the Moon’s surface.

In contrast, the Chandrayaan-1 mission in 2008 achieved great success, discovering evidence of water molecules on the Moon.

Given these findings, Chandrayaan-3’s mission will focus on conducting further studies and experiments on the water molecules previously detected by Chandrayaan-1.

ISRO has expressed the possibility of water’s presence in permanently shadowed areas near the lunar South Pole. Therefore, similar investigations will likely be conducted by Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface.

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