India's journey towards space exploration has been nothing short of remarkable. From launching its first rocket in 1963 to becoming the first Asian country to reach Mars in 2014, India has come a long way.
{getToc} $title={Table of Contents}
The country's ambitious space program has been a source of national pride, and the upcoming launch of Chandrayaan 3 is another step towards fulfilling its dream of becoming a major player in space exploration.
What is Chandrayaan 3?
Chandrayaan 3 is India's third lunar exploration mission, following the Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 missions.
It is a planned mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and aims to be India's first successful moon landing.
The mission will consist of a lander and a rover, similar to Chandrayaan-2, but without an orbiter. The propulsion module will behave like a communication relay satellite.
The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration until the spacecraft is in a 100 km lunar orbit.
The lander and rover will attempt to soft-land on the lunar surface in the moon's south polar region, where no country has landed before.
When is the launch scheduled?
The launch of Chandrayaan 3 is scheduled for July 14, 2023, at 2:35 pm IST. The mission will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
The Chandrayaan 3 mission is expected to take off from the launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state at 2:30 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET).
How can you watch it live?
You can watch the historic event live on the Indian Space Research Organisation's official YouTube channel. The coverage is expected to start about an hour before liftoff.
What happened in the previous missions?
India's first attempt at landing on the lunar surface with Chandrayaan-2 in 2019 was unsuccessful. The lander, Vikram, and rover, Pragyan, made a landing attempt on September 6, 2019.
However, the lander's trajectory diverged from the planned path, and India's mission controllers lost contact.
Chandrayaan-2 was not a total failure, as the mission also featured an orbiter, which arrived safely and continues to study the moon today.
What makes this mission different?
Chandrayaan 3 is an attempt to land on the lunar surface after the Chandrayaan-2 mission's unsuccessful landing attempt.
The mission will demonstrate India's capability to safely land on the lunar surface and conduct scientific experiments.
The mission's primary objective is to collect data and conduct a series of scientific experiments to learn more about the moon's composition.
The lander and rover will use a range of instruments to make thermal, seismic, and mineralogical measurements.
What are the challenges in soft-landing on the moon?
Soft-landing on the moon is a complicated feat that only three countries, the United States, Russia, and China, have achieved so far.
The challenge lies in the moon's terrain, which consists of craters, ridges, and boulders that make landing difficult.
The lander and rover must be able to navigate through the rugged terrain of the moon's south pole to complete their mission.
India's space program
India's space program has been in existence for more than six decades, dating back to when the country was a newly independent republic.
The country's space program has come a long way since then, and it is now the world's most populous nation and its fifth-largest economy.
India's space program has been playing catch-up under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who sees it as a symbol of the country's rising prominence on the global stage.
India's space ambitions
India's space program has been growing rapidly, and the country has several ambitious plans for the future.
ISRO is developing a spacecraft called Gaganyaan, which will take astronauts to orbit, and the country is increasing its collaboration with the United States for space missions.
Earlier this year, the White House announced that NASA would provide training for Indian astronauts "with a goal of mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024." ISRO has also proposed sending an orbiter to Venus.