Chandrayaan -3 lands on Moon- A Historic Day for India

The long-awaited news has come and at 6.04 pm on 23rd August 2023,India became the first country in the world to land a lander on the south pole of the moon. It was the second attempt of the Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO) to land on the moon. Chandrayaan-2  lander named Vikram crashed while attempting  to land on the south pole of the moon on 7th September 2019.

India also became the 4th country in the world to land a spacecraft on moon after Russia, the United States and China.

The Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for one moon day (14 Earth Day), running a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.

Rough terrain makes a south pole landing difficult, and a first landing is historic. The region's ice could supply fuel, oxygen and drinking water for future missions.

Chandrayaan-3 mission:

Chandrayaan-3  was launched by ISRO from Sriharikota on July 14, 2023, on a GSLV- Mark III (LVM-3) heavy lift rocket . The spacecraft consists of a lander named Vikram, and a rover named Pragyan.  Unlike Chandrayaan -2 there is no orbiter in the Chandrayaan -3 mission. The estimated budget of the mission is Rs 615 crore.

The Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram is about 2 metres tall and has a mass of just over 1,700 kg.  It is carrying a 26-kg lunar rover named Pragyaan. The lunar rover Pragyaan will conduct a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.

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