Chandrayaan-3: India waits with bated breath for Moon landing

Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing: The big day is finally here! India will witness a milestone event on Wednesday when Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 lands on the lunar surface at 6:04 pm. The powered descent will start at 5:45 pm. The nation has been carefully following the journey of Chandrayaan-3 from Sriharikota to the Moon that began on July 14. While the suspense is nothing short of intense, India is waiting with bated breath for the Moon landing. 

Wishes have poured in from all corners. Social media is replete with netizens wishing ISRO good luck. Many have already shared reimagined pictures of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a three-day visit to South Africa to attend the BRICS Summit 2023 will attend the event virtually. During the landing day of its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, PM Modi had flown down to ISRO in Bengaluru to watch the landing. However, ISRO lost contact with the lander.

ISRO said in its latest updates on Chandrayaan-3: “The mission is on schedule. Systems are undergoing regular checks. Smooth sailing is continuing.”

Once the soft-landing is complete, rover Pragyan will rove on the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-3, a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2, is ISRO’s attempt to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the Moon surface. 

The lander payloads will be deployed to measure thermal conductivity and temperature, seismicity around the landing site, to estimate plasma density and its variations. The rover payloads will derive the elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site. Chandrayaan-3’s main objectives are to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the Moon, demonstrate the rover roving on the lunar surface and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments. 

Also read: Chandrayaan-3's historic moon landing attempt: Why landing on South Pole is so difficult?

Also read: PM Modi to join Chandrayaan-3 landing programme virtually right after landing from South Africa

Also read: From L&T to Godrej & Boyce: What role has India Inc played in Chandrayaan-3?