Tune in to See India’s Chandrayaan-3 Attempt Lunar Landing at 8:34AM ET
The question of whether India will achieve the first successful landing on the moon’s south pole will soon be answered. The Chandrayaan-3 mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which was launched on July 14th and entered lunar orbit on August 5th, is set to make a landing attempt on Wednesday at approximately 8:34AM EDT. This comes after Russia’s unsuccessful attempt to beat India to this milestone. The ISRO’s live telecast, which can be watched below, is scheduled to start at 3:50AM EDT.
Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander is attempting to touch down near the Moon’s south pole, which is believed to contain water ice. It could provide crucial water, oxygen and fuel for future lunar missions and bases. However, contact may prove challenging as the area is known for its rugged terrain and shadowy craters. The immediate predecessor of this mission, Chandrayaan-2, crashed in 2019 after landing at the moon’s south pole.
Chandrayaan-3 uses “fault-based design” to incorporate the lessons of 2019’s “hard landing”. The new version includes an expanded landing area, software updates and more redundant systems to back up any outages.
IRSO’s X (formerly Twitter) account posted early Tuesday morning: “Mission is on schedule. Systems are regularly checked. Smooth sailing continues.” It also published images of the Moon’s surface taken from orbit.
You can tune in here early Wednesday morning (US time) to watch the Indian lander land.
