Chandrayaan – 3 to make a soft landing on the moon at 6:04pm, India united in hope, prayer and anticipation

With bated breath, India is counting hours before the moon mission, Chandrayaan – 3 makes its soft landing on the lunar surface, the South Pole region of the moon this evening. If Chandrayaan – 3 makes a successful soft landing, it will be the fourth country to do so after Russia, United States and China, and the first country to do so near the South Pole.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has taken to X and expressed confidence that mission will sail smoothly without a hitch. The scientists have taken valuable lessons from the failure of the Chandrayaan-2, and incorporate their findings to ensure a successful fruition of this lunar mission. The twenty minutes before the touchdown are going to be the nail-biting ’20 minutes of terror’, as has been predicted by the scientists.

The landing of the Vikram lander, carrying the Pragyaan Rover in its belly is scheduled at 6:04 pm. This will be live telecasted across the country. ISRO has informed that live streaming will begin at 5:20pm, and real time developments will be telecasted on ISRO’s website, their YouTube channel, and Doordarshan.

This lunar mission is of great importance to India, as it will land on a terrain which is expected to yield traces of water. The presence of water on the moon would be a great impetus for the future space mission to the moon, as that water could be treated as a source of drinking water or could be broken down to make oxygen. Moreover, this discovery could finally answer unanswered questions such as the origins of the oceans.

A notice issued by the secretary in the Ministry of Education, K.Sanjay Murthy says that all government universities must hold special screenings of the landing at 5:30. This will enable the students and the faculty members to “get an opportunity to witness this momentous occasion”. Such events have been planned out with great grandeur, and has woven the country together in hope, prayer and anticipation. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, who is attending the BRICS summit at South Africa will be joining the festivities online.

In a statement, ISRO on Tuesday said, “Smooth sailing is continuing. The Mission Operations Complex is buzzed with energy and excitement!" Releasing never seen before images of the moon, ISRO assured that the mission launched in July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Andra Pradesh’s Sriharikota is on track and is expected to make a successful landing. The Vikram lander, named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme, was perched on a LVM 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle, and was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5.

Although the landing is scheduled to take place at 6:04pm, Nilesh M. Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre-Isro, Ahmedabad, has stated that the landing could be postponed to August 27 if the conditions are not favorable. “On August 23, two hours before Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon, we will take a decision on whether or not it will be appropriate to land it at that time based on the health of the lander module and the conditions on the Moon”, said Desai. This decision comes after the failure of the Russian moon mission Luna – 25 which cashed on Sunday while landing. The scientists wish to leave no margin for any errors and such safety precautions have been kept in place to avoid the fate of the failed Chandrayaan-2, launched in 2019.