A Billion Prayers as Chandrayaan-3 Attempts Moon Landing Today: Key Points

India is anxiously awaiting the moon mission Chandrayaan-3’s attempt to land on the lunar surface this evening. People are holding gatherings and offering prayers with great enthusiasm, as scientists anticipate a nerve-wracking “20 minutes of terror” before the landing.

Here are the top 10 highlights of this significant event:

1. The scheduled landing time is 6:04 pm and will be broadcasted live nationwide. Schools are open for the event, and space enthusiasts are organizing celebrations in anticipation of this historic moment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently attending the BRICS summit in South Africa, will participate online.
2. The suspense is heightened due to the recent failure of the Russian moon mission Luna-25, which crashed during its landing on the moon’s surface. In 2019, the Chandrayaan-2 mission also faced difficulties in landing safely in the same challenging terrain filled with craters and deep trenches.
3. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is confident that the landing will be successful, having incorporated valuable lessons from the Chandrayaan-2 mission.
4. The live broadcast of the event will commence at 5:20 pm on the ISRO website, YouTube channel, and DD National. At 6:04 pm evening, the Vikram lander, carrying the rover Pragyaan, will attempt a gentle landing on the moon’s South Pole.
5. The chosen landing site holds significance as it has shown traces of water. This area could hold crucial information about lunar water ice, a potentially valuable resource. The presence of water on the moon’s surface was initially detected by a NASA instrument on ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 probe in 2009.
6. The presence of water offers hope for future moon missions. It could serve as a source of drinking water, help cool equipment, be broken down for oxygen production, and provide insights into the origins of Earth’s oceans.
7. India will become the fourth country to successfully land a rover on the moon, following Russia, the United States, and China.
8. ISRO confirmed that the mission is proceeding as planned and that regular checks are being conducted on the systems. “Smooth progress continues. The Mission Operations Complex at ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is full of energy and excitement now!” ISRO shared on its platform, formerly known as Twitter. ISRO also released images of the moon captured from an altitude of about 70 km.
9. The moon lander was launched on July 14 atop a LVM 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle. It entered lunar orbit on August 5. The lander, named Vikram after Vikram Sarabhai, often referred to as the father of the Indian space program.
10. After the moon mission, ISRO has several upcoming projects, including a mission to study the Sun and the Gaganyaan human space flight program. The Aditya-L1, India’s first space-based solar observatory, is preparing for launch, likely in the first week of September.