India's Chandrayaan-3 Begins Moon Mission; here's all you need to know

In a bid to join the exclusive league of nations that have achieved a soft landing on the Moon, India's Chandrayaan-3, the country's third lunar exploration mission, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on Friday afternoon. This mission follows the previous attempt, Chandrayaan-2, by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which unfortunately fell short of its goal in September 2019 due to a communication failure with the lander just 2.1 kilometers above the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3 is set to embark on a month-long journey before making its anticipated landing on the Moon's surface in August. If successful, India will become the fourth nation to accomplish this feat, following the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China.

The ambitious ₹615 crore mission has three primary objectives. Firstly, it aims to achieve a safe and soft landing on the Moon. Secondly, it seeks to demonstrate the mobility of a rover on the lunar surface. Lastly, it aims to conduct environmental studies of the Moon. The spacecraft comprises a six-wheeled lander and rover module equipped with advanced payloads designed to gather data about the lunar terrain. The ISRO elaborated on the project, stating, "Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous Lander module (LM), Propulsion module (PM), and a Rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for interplanetary missions."

Both the ISRO and former scientists associated with the space agency, including ex-chairman Madhavan Nair and scientist Nambi Narayan, expressed great confidence in the mission's success. Taking into account the data collected from the Chandrayaan-2 mission and analyzing past mistakes, the ISRO is determined to overcome previous setbacks. Narayan, in an interview with news agency ANI before the launch, stated, "Chandrayaan-3 will definitely be a game-changer for India, and I hope it will be successful."

Across India, citizens showed their enthusiasm for Chandrayaan-3, as videos circulated depicting people cheering and congratulating the ISRO in anticipation of the mission's triumph. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently in France, tweeted earlier in the day, expressing his optimism and stating that the mission carries the "hopes and dreams of India."

The launch of Chandrayaan-3 triggers memories of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which successfully deployed an orbiter but suffered a devastating crash that resulted in the loss of the lander and rover. The image of a disheartened K Sivan, the then ISRO chief, being consoled by PM Modi during that poignant moment remains etched in the collective memory of many.