Chandrayaan-3: 'Mission is on schedule,' says ISRO; shares new images of Moon

By Team Newsable  |  First Published Aug 22, 2023, 5:57 PM IST

The Chandrayaan-3 mission is on schedule to attempt a soft landing on the Moon on Wednesday, August 23, the Indian Space Research Organisation said. However, under "unfavourable conditions," the landing may be postponed to August 27, an ISRO scientist said.
 


The Chandrayaan-3 mission is on schedule to attempt a soft landing on the Moon on Wednesday, August 23, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.  The space agency claimed that everything is operating smoothly and that all systems are being checked on a daily basis.

The live telecast of the landing operations will begin at 5:20 pm on August 23, ISRO wrote on its X (formerly Twitter) handle. After the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and the Vikram lander made formal contact, the countdown to the lander's touchdown on the lunar surface began.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
The mission is on schedule.
Systems are undergoing regular checks.
Smooth sailing is continuing.

The Mission Operations Complex (MOX) is buzzed with energy & excitement!

The live telecast of the landing operations at MOX/ISTRAC begins at 17:20 Hrs. IST… pic.twitter.com/Ucfg9HAvrY

— ISRO (@isro)

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The space agency also released photos of the moon taken on August 19, 2023, by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) at a height of around 70 kilometres.

The soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 may be postponed till August 27 if weather conditions are unfavourable for the spacecraft to touch down on the Moon, according to a previous Isro scientist.

However, it will land on August 23 as per the schedule, said Nilesh M Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre- ISRO, Ahmedabad. "We will decide on August 23 whether or not it will be appropriate to land Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon at that time based on the state of the lander module and the lunar environment. We will land the module on the Moon on August 27 if any unfavourable circumstances arise. We will be able to land the module by August 23 if there are no issues," he added.

Also Read | Chandrayaan-3: From prayers to contingency plans, Moon landing sparks excitement

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