In a proud moment for India which gave every Indian goosebumps, Chandrayaan 3 on Friday was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Chandrayaan 3 was among the most-awaited historic moment for India and on Friday it was successfully launched into orbit. Chandrayaan 3 is now on its way to the south pole of the moon and the ISRO is hoping for a safe 'soft landing' of its Rover. India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3 has three major objectives. One is to demonstrate safe landing on the surface of the moon, the second is to demonstrate rover operations on the moon, and the third is to conduct in-situ scientific experiments on the lunar surface. Jubilation and applause started echoing after the LVM3 M4 vehicle successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 into orbit. ISRO confirmed its success and its chief S Somnath addressed the media as well. To be precise, ISRO scientists announce the successful separation of the Satellite from the launch Vehicle. The Satellite has now been injected into the desired Orbit to begin its journey to the Moon.
Chandrayaan-3, in its precise orbit, has begun its journey to the Moon.
— ISRO (@isro) July 14, 2023
Health of the Spacecraft is normal.
Before the launch of Chandrayaan 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his Twitter handle and sent his best wishes to ISRO. He wrote, "14th July 2023 will always be etched in golden letters as far as India’s space sector is concerned. Chandrayaan-3, our third lunar mission, will embark on its journey. This remarkable mission will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation...Chandrayaan-3 will be inserted into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory after the orbit raising maneuvers. Covering over 300,000 km, it will reach the Moon in the coming weeks. Scientific instruments onboard will study the Moon’s surface and enhance our knowledge...Thanks to our scientists, India has a very rich history in the space sector. Chandrayaan-1 is considered to be a path breaker among global lunar missions as it confirmed the presence of water molecules on the moon. It featured in over 200 scientific publications around the world."
"Till Chandrayaan-1, the moon was believed to be a bone-dry, geologically inactive and uninhabitable celestial body. Now, it is seen as a dynamic and geologically active body with the presence of water and sub-surface ice. Maybe in the future, it can be potentially inhabited!Chandrayaan-2 was equally pathbreaking because data from the Orbiter associated with it detected the presence of chromium, manganese and sodium for the first time through remote sensing. This will also provide more insights into the moon’s magmatic evolution...The key scientific outcomes from Chandrayaan 2 include the first ever global map for lunar sodium, enhancing knowledge on crater size distribution, unambiguous detection of lunar surface water ice with IIRS instrument and more. This Mission has featured in almost 50 publications....Best wishes for Chandrayaan-3 mission! I urge you all to know more about this Mission and the strides we have made in space, science and innovation. It will make you all very proud."
14th July 2023 will always be etched in golden letters as far as India’s space sector is concerned. Chandrayaan-3, our third lunar mission, will embark on its journey. This remarkable mission will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation. pic.twitter.com/EYTcDphaES
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 14, 2023
What went wrong during Chandrayaan 2 mission?
How Chandrayaan 3 is different from Chandrayaan 2? India's Lunar Mision Explained
For those who have forgotten or are unaware, during the Chandrayaan 2 mission led by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Vikram lander experienced a loss of communication less than two minutes before its planned landing on the moon. The lander was a mere 2.1 km away from achieving a significant milestone as the first-ever spacecraft to softly land near the lunar South Pole. The lander of the Chandrayaan-2 moon mission was attempting a controlled landing near the lunar South Pole, a region believed to potentially contain water ice. Unfortunately, communication with the lander was lost during the critical final phase as it approached the moon’s surface. As per ISRO chairman Sreedhara Somanath, the crash was attributed to a software malfunction.