India’s third mission to the moon is scheduled to be launched on July 14 and the lander of the spacecraft is expected to soft-land on the lunar surface on August 23 or 24, the Indian Space Research Organisation said today.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which will be launched by Launch Vehicle Mark-III rocket consists of three modules — propulsion, lander, and rover. The rover is placed inside the lander which will survey the surface of the moon after landing.
“LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3 Mission:The launch is now scheduled for July 14, 2023, at 2:35 pm IST from SDSC, Sriharikota (in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh),” the ISRO tweeted.
Secretary of the Department of Space and ISRO Chairman Somanath S told reporters that the space agency would attempt a soft-landing of the lander on August 23 or August 24.
ISRO officials noted that the mission life of the lander is one lunar day, which is equal to 14 Earth days.
“The date [for soft-landing] is decided based on when there is sunrise on the Moon. While landing, sunlight must be there. There is sunlight on the Moon for 14-15 days and for the next 14-15 days there is no sunlight,” they noted.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission carries scientific instruments to study the thermophysical properties of the lunar regolith, lunar seismicity, lunar surface plasma environment, and elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site.
