India Now Only Country to Land A Spacecraft Near the Moon's South Pole

India, on Wednesday evening, successfully soft landed it's Spacecraft — Chandrayaan-3 on the surface of Moon in the South Pole area.

The Chandrayaan-3, lander made a "soft landing" on the lunar surface just after 18:04 India time (1234 UTC).

With this triumph, India becomes the fourth country after the US, the former Soviet Union, and China to achieve the feat and the first, and only country to date, to land near the moon's south pole.

The Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi has remarked that Chandrayaan-3's triumph mirrors the aspirations and capabilities of 140 crore Indians.

Sharing a post on X by Indian Space Research Organisation, the Prime Minister said, “Chandrayaan-3's triumph mirrors the aspirations and capabilities of 140 crore Indians.

To new horizons and beyond!"

Earlier today, the Prime Minister highlighted setting ambitious goals for the future and informed that ISRO is soon going to launch the ‘Aditya L-1’ mission for a detailed study of the Sun. He also touched upon Venus being one of ISRO’s goals. “India is proving again and again that the sky is not the limit”, the Prime Minister said as he highlighted Mission Gaganyaan where India is fully prepared for its first human space flight mission.

Brains behind Chandrayaan-3 (Image [edited] source - TV9Hindi) 

ISRO feat comes just days after its long time ally Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after losing control.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also MoS Incharge Space, said — “Hail India on Moon! Hail ISRO!”

Dr Jitendra Singh said, “While others fantasize Moon, we have felt the Moon. While others stuck in flight of dreams, Chandrayaan3 has actualised the dream. Tricolour flies high in lunar skies affirming India’s resolve, as articulated by PM Modi, ‘Sky is not the limit’”.

In a brief statement to the media, Dr Jitendra Singh complimented ISRO Chairman, Shri S. Somanath, Mission Director, Shri Mohan Kumar and the entire Team ISRO for having placed India’s national pride on the Moon in the virgin terrain of South Polar area, not accessed by any other space mission so far. He said, it is difficult for common citizens to understand how much consistent labour, hard work, commitment and passion have been put in while working day and night for months and years together to ensure meticulous planning and minutest details for the success of the mission.

ISRO Determined to Land Chandrayaan-3 on Moon, Says Will Postpone Landing to August 27 If Conditions Unfavorable

Successfull Mission will Make India the only country in the world to land on the lunar South Pole

The Indian Space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has said that if any issues arise with the lander module, the landing of Chandrayaan-3 will be postponed to August 27. This was conveyed by Nilesh M Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre-ISRO, Ahmedabad.

The statement from ISRO can be considered as how determined the space agency is on not to leave any room for failure and make the 'Space' for success of the third lunar mission even if requires more 'Time'.

A decision will be made two hours before the planned landing on August 23, based on the module's health and the conditions on the Moon. ISRO Chairman S Somanath has assured the Minister of State that all systems are working perfectly and no contingencies are expected.

#WATCH | Nilesh M Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre-ISRO, Ahmedabad on Chandrayaan-3 landing on the Moon

"On August 23, two hours before Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon, we will take a decision on whether or not it will be appropriate to land it at that time based on… pic.twitter.com/JZKrMQ9p6F

— ANI (@ANI) August 21, 2023

Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 hours IST. While the Chandrayaan-2 mission was only partially successful since the lander lost contact after a hard landing, the ISRO successfully established two-way communication between the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module and the still orbiting Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter. Earlier today, the ISRO shared new images of the Lunar far side area captured by the Chandrayaan-3.

India will be the fourth country in the world to achieve this feat after the United States, Russia, and China, but India will be the only country in the world to land on the lunar South Pole.

It is to be noted that the very first –Chandrayaan-1 — is credited for having discovered the presence of water on the surface of the Moon, which was a new revelation for the world and even the most premier Space agencies like the USA’s NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) were fascinated by this discovery and used the inputs for their further experiments.

Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on 14 July 2023 via the GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota at 2:35 PM.The primary objectives of Chandrayaan-3 mission are threefold —

1. To demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface;
2. To demonstrate Rover roving on the moon
3. To conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

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

— ISRO (@isro) August 21, 2023

Chandrayaan-3: Passenger Aboard Flight Captures Mesmerising Video of The Lift-off

Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission, on board the heavy-lift GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) rocket was launched on July 14 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

The day when India's lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 was launched, a passenger from the aboard IndiGo plane made a video of this special launch sight. An Indigo flight was going from Chennai to Dhaka when the pilot made the announcement to the passengers that "history is being made on your left". That's when people in the flight captured this historical and amazing sight in their mobile phones.

I’m lucky yesterday to witness the historical launch of Chandrayan 3 from flight. Sometime after takeoff from Chennai to Dhaka flight, pilot announced to watch this historical event who sits left side of the flight #indigo6e #ISRO #Chandrayaan3 #Chennai pic.twitter.com/2kict9dBdR

— Ponraj (@aponraj1) July 15, 2023

Chandrayaan-3 passing through the clouds is the witness of how glorious that moment would be for India.

About 40 days later, on August 24, the robotic device of the Chandrayaan 3 mission will land on the south pole of the Moon, which has not yet been discovered. So far only three countries, the US, China and Russia have been successful in landing on the surface of the Moon.

In an another instance, a picture of Chandrayaan-3 lighting up Australia's night sky is doing the rounds on social media and is captivating people with its beauty.

The picture was shared on Twitter by Dylan O’Donnell, who photoshoots from the Byron Bay Observatory, Australia, for Deography photo blog, writes for Celestron & Photographing Space, and provides science outreach for schools and students.

Just watched India’s space agency launch their moon rocket on YT then fly over my house 30 mins later! Congrats @isro ! Hopefully you stick the landing 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/ETP8xL8lqv

— Dylan O'Donnell (@erfmufn) July 14, 2023

India's 3rd Lunar Mission 'Chandrayaan-3' Scheduled for Launch in August This Year

Representational Image

India's third lunar exploration mission 'Chandrayaan-3' by its space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is scheduled for launch in August this year.

This information was given by Dr Jitendra Singh, who is the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology and also the minister of Atomic Energy and Space. 

He said that based on the learnings from Chandrayaan-2 and suggestions made by the national level experts, the realization of Chandrayaan-3 is in progress. Many related hardware and their special tests are successfully completed and the Launch is scheduled for August 2022.

Prior to this, Chandrayaan-2 was attempted by ISRO in July 2019, when a last-minute software glitch led to the failure of the India's second lunar mission. Chandrayaan-2's Vikram Lander crash-landed on the moon's surface after its guidance software malfunctioned, according to an internal report presented to the Space Commission.

The Minister also informed that the number of missions planned in this year  (Jan-Dec 2022) are 19, which consist -- 8 Launch Vehicle Missions, 7 Spacecraft Missions and 4 Technology Demonstrator Missions.

The lander for Chandrayaan-3 will have only four throttle-able engines unlike Vikram on Chandrayaan-2 which had five 800 Newtons engines with a fifth one being centrally mounted with a fixed thrust. 

Additionally, the Chandrayaan-3 lander will be equipped with a Laser Doppler Velocimeter. 

The LDV sensor was developed for Chandrayaan-2 too, however since it did not perform well in ground-tests, it was not included in that mission. 

LDV sensors will be useful as they will help directly measure the velocity from the height of about 20km, sources added and reports suggested that Bengaluru-based LEOS (Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems) lab, a unit of ISRO, has developed the sensor. LEOS is situated at Peenya Industrial Estate, Bengaluru where first Indian satellite was fabricated in 1975.

The estimated cost of Chandrayaan-3 project is reportedly more than Rs.600 Crores.

India's next lunar mission will be the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission, which suggested to be launched in 2024 and for this India is collaborating with Japan however the mission details is not yet defined. 

According to Japan's space agency JAXA, it is working with ISRO to plan an international collaborative mission to obtain the data on the quantity and forms of the water resources present on the Moon.

Chandrayaan-3 is Likely To Be Launched During 3rd Quarter of 2022

India's lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, is likely to be launched during third quarter of 2022 assuming normal work flow henceforth. In a written reply to a question in the Lok sabha today, he said, realization of Chandrayaan-3 is in progress. This was announced by Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space.

The realization of Chandrayaan-3 involves various process including finalization of configuration, subsystems realization, integration, spacecraft level detailed testing and a number of special tests to evaluate the system performance on earth. The realization progress was hampered due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, all works that were possible in work from home mode were taken up even during lockdown periods. Chandrayaan-3 realization resumed after commencement of unlock period and is in matured stage of realization.

Chandrayaan-3 will be a mission repeat of Chandrayaan-2 but will only include a lander and rover similar to that of Chandrayaan-2. 

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow up of Chandrayaan-2, the second lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), after Chandrayaan-1.

Chandrayaan-2, aimed at landing a rover on unchartered Lunar South Pole, was launched on July 22, 2019 on board India's most powerful geosynchronous launch vehicle. However, the lander Vikram hard-landed on September 7, 2019, crashing India's hope to become the first nation to successfully land on the lunar surface in its very first attempt.