The countdown for the launch of Chandrayaan-3, India’s third mission to the moon, began on Thursday at 1.05 pm at the Satish Dhawan Spaceport in Sriharikota. The board has authorised the launch at 2.35 pm on Friday and the weather conditions are expected to be favourable.

The critical 25 hours 30 minute countdown will be used to fill the rockets with cryogenic fuel and the Indian Space Research Organisation will be closely monitoring the process looking out for any fuel leak.

A successful mission would see India enter an elite club of nations that have achieved such a feat, the others being the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.

Chandrayaan-2 managed to land on the Moon but failed to manoeuvre a soft landing due to software and mechanical issues. Now they have worked on every aspect of it for four years and are hopeful of a soft landing, a former scientist was cited as saying.

ISRO Officials Seek Lord Venkateswara’s Blessings Ahead Of Launch

As is customary, ISRO chairman S Somanath accompanied by senior officials visited Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, ahead of the launch. Officials presented a miniature model of the rocket and spacecraft to the temple and sought blessings. It is an old ISRO tradition to seek the blessings of the deity ahead of satellite launches in Sriharikota. Sommanath told the media in Tirumala that the stage is set for the launch of Chandrayaan-3 and expressed confidence in the mission’s success.

“It is a long journey. We will be ready for landing on the moon possibly by the last week of August. The landing date is decided when there is sunrise on the moon. When we are landing, sunlight must be there. So the landing will be on August 23 or 24,” Somnath said.

The Chandrayaan-3, which will be India’s third lunar mission, consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM), and a rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.

Details On The Mission Route

According to ISRO, the lander has the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site, and deploy the rover, which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility. The Lander and the Rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.

The LVM3 will place Chandrayaan-3 in an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 36,500km as against 45,475km during Chandrayaan-2. The perigee (closest point to Earth) will be around 170km, nearly the same as last time. “This is being done to get more stability,” Somanath was quoted in the media.

 Isro will then conduct multiple Earth-bound manoeuvres to increase Chandrayaan-3’s orbit before commands for trans-lunar insertion (TLI) that will kick off the spacecraft’s journey towards the Moon.

Chandryaan To Land On Moon On August 23

After Chandrayaan-3 reaches the moon’s orbit, the lander module will separate from the propulsion module and be eventually brought to a 100km X 30km orbit, from where commands for de-boost and final descent is expected on August 23. The lander’s legs have been further strengthened and new sensors and solar panels have been added. A key change is that ISRO has increased the size of the landing area.

“In Chandrayaan-2, the landing site was 500m X 500m and we wanted to land at the centre, which resulted in some limitations. Now, the landing site is 4km X 2. 5km. At nominal conditions, we’ll attempt landing at the centre point, but otherwise, Vikram can land anywhere in this area, giving it greater flexibility,” Somanath was quoted in the media.