India on Friday successfully launched its third lunar exploration mission--Chandrayaan-3-- from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, reports BSS.
With the success of the mission, Chandrayaan-3 will make India the fourth country after US, Russia and China to land its spacecraft on the surface of the moon and demonstrate the country's ability for safe and soft landing of lunar surface.
The mission follows the ISRO’s (Indian Space Research Organisation) Chandrayaan-2, which failed a desired soft landing on the lunar surface nearly four years ago in September 2019.Chandrayaan-3 will journey for over a month before landing on the lunar surface later in August.
Chandrayaan-3 will journey for over a month before landing on the lunar surface later in August.
The ISRO explained the three main objectives of this ₹615 crore mission -safe and soft landing on the Moon, to demonstrate the Rover roving on its surface and study its environment.
The spacecraft consists of a six-wheeled lander and rover module, which is configured with payloads to provide data related to the moon's surface.
"Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM) and a Rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for interplanetary missions," the ISRO explained on its website about the project.
The ISRO and the former scientists associated with the space agency, including ex-chairman Madhavan Nair and scientist Nambi Narayan, expressed high confidence about the success of the mission.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in France at present, also tweeted this morning, expressing optimism about the mission and said it will carry the "hopes and dreams of India."
"14th July 2023 will always be etched in golden letters as far as India's space sector is concerned. Chandrayaan-3, our third lunar mission, will embark on its journey. This remarkable mission will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation," he added.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
