All eyes around the world are on the final moments when the Lander module will touch down on the moon’s south pole.
Indian space mission ‘Chandrayaan 3’ is scheduled to land on the South Pole of the Moon this evening (Wednesday, August 23).
This second attempt to land on the moon is a historic moment for the world’s most populous country.
Chandrayaan-3, which means ‘mooncraft’ in Sanskrit, is scheduled to land its Vikram lander near the moon’s south pole at 6 pm Indian time.
Earlier in 2019, an attempt by India failed. The latest mission comes just days after Russia’s first lunar mission in nearly 50 years crashed on the lunar surface.
Former Indian space chief K Sivan has expressed hope that the latest images sent by the lander indicate that the final leg of the journey will be a success.
“There is some encouragement that we will be able to achieve the landing mission without any problems,” he told AFP on Monday.
The mission was launched about six weeks ago in front of thousands of excited spectators and took far longer to reach the moon than the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s.
India is currently using a much less powerful rocket than America’s. The spacecraft orbited the Earth several times to gain momentum before starting its month-long journey to the Moon.
The spacecraft’s lander Vikram, which means ‘valor’ in Sanskrit, separated from its propulsion module last week and has been sending images of the lunar surface since entering lunar orbit on August 5.
A day before the landing, the Indian space agency ISRO said on social media that Chandrayaan is moving on schedule and its mission control complex is full of energy and excitement.
“Smooth sailing continues,” the agency posted on X.
India has a relatively low-budget aerospace program, but since sending a probe into lunar orbit for the first time in 2008, it has grown considerably in size and speed.
The cost of the latest mission is $74.6 million, which is very low compared to other countries considering India’s cost-effective space engineering.
Experts say India can keep costs down by copying and adopting existing space technology thanks to its highly skilled engineers.
In 2014, India became the first Asian country to send a satellite into orbit around Mars and is set to launch missions into Earth orbit in the next few years, starting with unmanned test flights in 2024.
