Chandrayaan-3 set to land on Moon on August 23 at around 6:04 pm, says ISRO

Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) ambitious mission to the Moon is scheduled to land on the lunar surface at around 6:04 pm on August 23. The space agency also shared where Indians can watch the historic event live. Indians can watch the event live on ISRO website, the space agency's official YouTube channel, ISRO's Facebook page and DD National from 5:27 pm onwards on Wednesday. 

"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 Hrs. IST. Thanks for the wishes and positivity!, " ISRO said in a post on X formerly Twitter. 

Also Read: Chandrayaan-3 to land on Moon at 6:04 pm on Aug 23: Here’s how to watch soft-landing live

Earlier in the day, ISRO announced that Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander module has successfully completed its second and final deboosting, which reduced the lander module orbit to 25km x 134km in the wee hours of Sunday. The spacecraft’s Vikram lander successfully completed its first deboosting operation at 4 pm on August 18, reducing the lander module’s orbit to 113km x 157km.  

“The second and final deboosting operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km. The module would undergo internal checks and await the sun-rise at the designated landing site. The powered descent is expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 Hrs. IST," said ISRO.  

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Deboosting refers to slowing down a spacecraft to position it in an orbit where the orbit’s closest point to the Moon is 30 km and the farthest point is 100 km.
 
Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third mission in its lunar exploration series. The spacecraft was launched successfully on July 14 from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre.  

Meanwhile, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos confirmed that its Luna-25 mission crash-landed on the Moon. The spacecraft crash-landed a day before its planned touchdown on the lunar south pole. Luna-25 was launched on August 10 and entered the lunar orbit on August 16. Luna-25 was slated to soft-land on August 21, two days before Chandrayaan-3’s scheduled soft and smooth landing on the Moon’s south pole.  

Also Read: Chandrayaan-3 update: Vikram Lander completes final deboosting operation; all eyes on landing now

Also Watch: Meet the man behind Chandrayaan-3: ISRO Chairman S. Somanath; India’s Moon Mission updates

Also Read: Can Chandrayaan-3 become first to land on Moon's south pole as Russia's Luna-25 suffers glitch?

Also Watch: Chandrayaan-3: A look at journey of ISRO's Moon Mission so far as Vikram lander attempts touchdown on August 23

Also Read: Russia's Luna-25 crash-lands on Moon day before planned touch down on south pole