India’s third lunar exploration began today with a majestic lift-off of India’s 43.5 meters tall, 642 tons Launch Vehicle Mark-3 rocket, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) officials cheered.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted from France, where he is on official visit: “Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in India’s space odyssey. It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian. This momentous achievement is a testament to our scientists’ relentless dedication. I salute their spirit and ingenuity!” (https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1679789062561857537?ref_src= )
Sixteen minutes after launch, the 3.8-tonne Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully separated from the LVM-3 rocket and entered the first of its intended Earth orbits, with all spacecraft parameters confirmed as normal. Over the next days, it will carry out multiple orbit-raising maneuvers around the Earth before being reaching its lunar transfer trajectory, that will take it to an orbit above the Moon, whereupon it is to carry out multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers to reach a 30 km by 100 km orbit, whereupon the propulsion module will release the lander for its descent to the lunar surface. August 23 or 24 is the Moon-landing target date.
“We expect this to be a game-changer mission—novel scientific experiments on the Moon and the LVM3’s success are allowing us to inch towards the Gaganyaan mission,” according to Anil Bhardwaj, director of ISRO’s Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, which built some of the payloads on this mission. “Gaganyaan” is the name of the human spaceflight mission to the Moon which ISRO is planning towards, India’s The Telegraph Online reported.
