ISRO Unveils Close-up Images of Moon in Anticipation of Chandrayaan-3 Mission
In preparation for its upcoming unique landing endeavor, India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has captured remarkable images of the moon, with the anticipated landing set to occur within a few days.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14 with the aim of making India’s first successful moon landing. The combination of Lakur and Rover has followed its schedule as planned. It successfully entered lunar orbit on August 5 and recently detached from its propulsion module on the 17th. August.
Capturing the journey
During its journey, the spacecraft has taken many pictures and recorded important moments along the way. One of the recent images shows the propulsion module in free flight, shared by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on X (formerly Twitter) on August 18.
A closer look at the moon
A short 31-second video shared by X combined several images taken by the Chandrayaan-3 lander. Most of these images show the surface of the moon, and ISRO identifies some of the craters the spacecraft passes under, including Fabry and Giordano Bruno.
ISRO also revealed more images of the moon taken by Chandrayaan-3 in another X-message. This time, a 17-second video containing photographs taken on August 15 was shared.
All of this photography is part of the preparations for the Chandrayaan-3 borrower landing attempt, which is scheduled for August 23rd or 24th near the moon’s south pole. If successful, this achievement would be significant for India. So far, only the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China have successfully landed spacecraft on the moon. Additionally, no spacecraft has ever touched the moon’s south pole, a place believed to contain water ice that could potentially support life. (Russia may also achieve this; their Luna-25 probe is scheduled to land near the South Pole, possibly as early as August 21.)
The Chandrayaan-3 mission has been funded with a budget of 6 billion rupees (about $72 million at today’s exchange rates). The mission involves a lander named Vikram, who carries a small ATV named Pragyan.
If all goes as planned, the robotic duo will explore the moon’s unique environment for about 14 Earth days after landing.
