Chandrayaan-3: The mission readiness review of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO's) third lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3, was completed on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, two days ahead of its launch. The board has authorised the launch of Chandrayaan-3, and the countdown will begin from Thursday, July 13, ISRO said in a mission update.
On Tuesday, July 12, 2023, Chandrayaan-3's launch rehearsal was concluded. The launch rehearsal simulated all the preparations and processions necessary for the launch, and took 24 hours to complete.
ISRO's largest rocket, the Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3), will carry Chandrayaan-3 towards the Moon on Friday, July 14, 2023, at 2:45 pm IST, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
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The objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are to demonstrate end-to-end landing and roving capabilities on the lunar surface after placing a lander and a rover on the Moon's highlands near the south pole, conduct in-situ scientific experiments, and develop and demonstrate new technologies required for interplanetary missions.
The Chandrayaan-3 lander has been designed in a way such that it can land softly in the Moon at a specified site, and deploy the rover, whose aim is to conduct in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface. The propulsion module will carry the lander module to the final 100-kilometre circular orbit. After reaching this orbit, the lander module and the propulsion module will separate.
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The propulsion module, after separation, will remain in orbit around the Moon, and act as a communications relay satellite.
The lander, rover and propulsion modules will carry their own scientific payloads.
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The vertical velocity with which the lander will touch down on the lunar surface should be less than two metres per second, and the horizontal velocity should be less than 0.5 metre per second. The slope must be less than 120 degrees.
The mission life of Chandrayaan-3 is one lunar day, which is equivalent to about 14 Earth days.
People can view the launch live on the official website and YouTube channel of ISRO, and also on DD National. The livestream will begin at 2:00 pm IST on July 14, 2023.