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India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission is on the brink of achieving a historic landing on the Moon’s southern pole. The spacecraft has successfully completed all necessary orbit and deboosting maneuvers, and now its primary objective is to locate an ideal area for a soft landing on the Moon’s challenging terrain.

The Lander Module, which consists of the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, separated from the Propulsion Module last Thursday. It has already captured and transmitted images of the Moon’s surface, which will assist in identifying a safe landing spot devoid of boulders or deep trenches. These images were taken using a camera developed by the Space Application Centre (SAC) under the guidance of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The key individuals leading India’s largest-ever space mission include ISRO Chairman S Somanath, the Chandrayaan-3 project director, and the director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). S Somanath, who took charge of ISRO in January last year, was previously the director of VSSC and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. His leadership extends beyond Chandrayaan-3, as he oversees other major missions like Aditya-L1 to the Sun and Gaganyaan, India’s first manned mission.

P Veeramuthuvel is the Project Director for Chandrayaan-3 and has been involved with the mission since 2019. He played a crucial role in the Chandrayaan-2 mission as well. S Unnikrishnan Nair, the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), and his team are responsible for the development of the Launch Vehicle Mark-III rocket. Lastly, M Sankaran is the Director at the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), which is responsible for creating and constructing India’s satellites for ISRO.

As the countdown continues for the historic landing on the Moon, India and the world eagerly await the success of Chandrayaan-3.

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