India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, is scheduled to be launched on July 14 at 2.35 pm, with the lander expected to land safely on the surface of the Moon on August 23 or 24. The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, on Sunday (July 9) said that this mission will make “India the fourth country to land its Spacecraft on the surface of the Moon.”
The Union Minister also highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest visit to the United States was marked by significant Space-related agreements. Singh also claimed that the countries which had started their Space journey long before India are now looking up to our nation as an equal collaborator.
Singh highlighted that under PM Modi’s regime, India has witnessed a quantum rise in our Space expertise and said that “India can no longer wait to be left behind in its march to the Moon.”
‘Chandrayaan-3 to showcase nation’s capabilities’
The minister said that Chandrayaan-3, the successor to Chandrayaan-1 and -2, aims at demonstrating the nation’s capability in soft landing and roving on the surface of the Moon or the Lunar surface. He also emphasised the fact that the complex mission profile required for the Spacecraft to enter the Moon’s orbit has been executed very precisely.
Singh said, this mission will be operating at the next level, while highlighting that the spacecraft will use Launch Vehicle Mark-3 developed by ISRO for its launch. He also added that all modifications made in Chandrayaan-3 have been subject to exhaustive ground tests and simulations through test beds.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Chandrayaan-3 rover, after the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the surface of the Moon, will come out and is expected to work for 14 days. The release also revealed that the rover has six wheels and multiple cameras through which the ISRO officials will receive images.
Singh also hailed PM Modi’s efforts in enabling the environment for Space workers and taking path-breaking decisions. He claimed that based on the current trajectory of growth of India’s space sector, it could be a 1-trillion US Dollar economy in the coming years.
It may be noted that the main objectives of Chandrayaan-3 mission are threefold – to demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface, to demonstrate Rover roving on the Moon and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
‘Tremendous excitement across the country’
There is tremendous excitement across the country about the launch of Chandrayaan-3, particularly because Chandrayaan-2 Mission could not yield the desired results because of a lapse just about 13 minutes after Spacecraft began its descent on September 6, 2019, the minister said.