Chandrayaan-3 Creates History: India Becomes First Country To Land Near Moon's South Pole
The spacecraft is equipped with the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover that will perform experiments on the Moon to find evidence of frozen water and to develop a better understanding of the Moon's unexplored polar region.
India's third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the Moon on Wednesday, August 23 at 6.03 PM IST. With this historic feat, India has become the first country to land near the Moon's south pole and also the fourth country to land on the Moon after the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China.
ISRO
Chandrayaan-3 creates history
The Chandrayaan-3's journey began from Earth on July 14 when the spacecraft took off from Sriharikota. After this, a few orbit-raising manoeuvres eventually led to its insertion into the lunar orbit on August 5. Slowly, the spacecraft contracted the distance between itself and the Moon's surface before landing on Earth's only natural satellite.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
¡ª ISRO (@isro) August 23, 2023
'India??,
I reached my destination
and you too!'
: Chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3 has successfully
soft-landed on the moon ?!.
Congratulations, India??!#Chandrayaan_3#Ch3
The spacecraft is equipped with the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover that will perform experiments on the Moon to find evidence of frozen water and to develop a better understanding of the Moon's unexplored polar region.
ISRO
Also read: Chandrayaan-3's Journey To The Moon: A Timeline Of India's Third Lunar Mission
The rover and lander will have two weeks on the Moon to make their assessments. The south pole is of particular interest to scientists because Chandrayaan-1 found evidence of frozen water on the far side of the Moon that cannot be viewed from Earth due to a phenomenon called "Tidal Locking."
ISRO
Ancient water ice could provide a record of lunar volcanoes, and about material that comets and asteroids brought to Earth. It will also help shed light on how oceans formed. This ice from the lunar south pole may be used to extract water, oxygen, and fuel for future crewed missions to the Moon.
Also read: What Are Chandrayaan-3's Payloads And Their Moon Missions?
ISRO
The Chandrayaan-3's primary objectives are to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate rover roving on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
Also read: Five Interesting Facts About India's Historic Chandrayaan-3 Mission
Are you excited to see what Chandrayaan-3 learns about the Moon? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.
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