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India is on the verge of making history as the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission prepares to touch down on the lunar surface. The Lander Module (LM), comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), is scheduled to make a soft-landing near the south polar region of the Moon on Wednesday evening at 6:04 pm. If successful, India will become the fourth country, after the US, China, and the Soviet Union, to achieve soft-landing on the lunar surface and the first to reach the unexplored south pole.

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 and its objectives are to demonstrate safe and soft-landing on the lunar surface, conduct scientific experiments, and rove on the Moon. Its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, faced technical difficulties during its landing attempt in September 2019. The mission was launched on July 14, and after the final deboosting operation, the LM is now placed in a 25 km x 134 km orbit around the Moon.

The critical process of soft-landing has been dubbed by ISRO officials as “17 minutes of terror.” The lander must fire its engines at precise times, altitudes, and use the right amount of fuel while scanning the lunar surface for obstacles. Once all parameters are checked, the required commands will be uploaded to the LM a couple of hours before touchdown.

After a successful soft-landing, the rover will descend from the lander’s belly onto the Moon’s surface. The lander and rover have a mission life of one lunar day to conduct scientific experiments and analyze the lunar surface. The Moon’s south pole region remains unexplored, and the presence of water in the permanently shadowed areas is of particular interest.

Chandrayaan-3’s mission aims to demonstrate India’s capabilities in soft-landing technology and explore the unique terrain of the lunar south pole. With this mission, India is determined to overcome the setbacks of Chandrayaan-2 and leave its mark in the field of lunar exploration.

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