India's Chandrayaan

Aug 26, 2023

ISRO / Twitter

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With Russia's first lunar lander mission in almost 50 years having crashed on the Moon, India is on course to make history with its Chandrayaan-3 lander.

Prior to its crash landing, Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft was expected to just beat India's Chandrayaan-3 to become the world's first lander to perform a soft landing on the lunar south pole.

Now, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has moved Chandrayaan-3 into a prelanding orbit and it is getting ready for its historic soft landing attempt — not only could it become the first nation to land on the lunar south pole, but it could also become the fourth nation to ever perform a soft landing on the Moon.

The fate of Luna-25 does, of course, serve as a warning for India's Chandrayaan-3 — landing on the Moon is no easy task, and there is no guarantee of success for Chandrayaan-3.

The world's leading space agencies, including NASA, Roscosmos, and China's space administration, have set their sights on the lunar south pole as scientists believe there are large amounts of water ice hidden beneath lunar soil and inside shadowed craters.

India will arguably join their ranks if it is able to successfully land on the lunar south pole with its Chnadrayaan-3 mission, which launched on July 14 aboard a Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LM-3) rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

ISRO

If it does, it will become the fourth nation to successfully land on the lunar surface, following Russia, the US, and China. It will also be the first to land on the lunar south pole.

According to a report from The Guardian, the ISRO has stated that the Chandrayaan-3 mission has experienced no glitches so far and is on course for a successful landing.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:Here are the images of Lunar far side area captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC). This camera that assists in locating a safe landing area -- without boulders or deep trenches -- during the descent is developed by ISRO… pic.twitter.com/rwWhrNFhHB

The mission could perform a soft landing as soon as tomorrow, August 23. As it approaches its destination, the ISRO has shared several images of the lunar surface captured by Chandrayaan-3.

If all goes according to plan, ISRO said Chandrayaan-3 would "mark a significant step forward for Indian science, engineering, technology, and industry, symbolising our nation's progress in space exploration."

It won't be easy, though. The lunar south pole is known for its rough terrain when compared with the Apollo landing sites. What's more, four years ago, India failed in a lunar south pole landing attempt after a software glitch caused its previous lander to crash into the Moon.

Officials at ISRO have said they have learned from the previous lander's failure and they have improved the software for Chandrayaan-3 while also making hardware changes, including sturdier legs for the lander.

Aside from Russia's Luna-25 mission, Japan, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates have all also recently failed to perform a soft landing on the lunar south pole.

ISRO

If the Chandrayaan-3 lander does perform a successful soft landing, it will then deploy a rover that will perform a number of experiments over a two-week period.

Those experiments will aim to ascertain whether ice water is, indeed, abundant in the lunar south pole. The US, Russia, and China will be keeping a keen eye on the results as all three aim to eventually build habitats on the Moon, and water ice from the lunar south pole could allow them to sustain human life.

The ISRO has announced it will live stream the Chandrayaan-3 landing attempt. It will be viewable via ISRO's official website as well as through its YouTube channel — and here, via the embedded video below.

The live telecast will start at 17:20 IST (08:20 ET) on August 23. If all goes to plan, the landing itself is expected to take place at 18:04 IST (09:04 ET) on August 23.

Stay posted for more updates from India's Chandrayaan-3 mission as it comes closer to performing its historic landing attempt on the lunar south pole.