Adhrysa Utchil, Dubai, UAE. In the vast expanse of space, where dreams collide with the unknown, India's Chandrayaan-3 mission emerges as a beacon of scientific ambition and exploration. The ISRO spacecraft, a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 and 1, set out to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface, successfully reached the south pole of the moon. The vehicle had 3 main missions: to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate rover roving on the moon, and to conduct in-site scientific experiments. this spacecraft achieved all its aims, making India and its people proud!
The launch was scheduled for July 14, 2023, at 2:35p.m. IST from the Second Launch Pad, SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota. On July 7th 2023, the spacecraft completed its vehicle electrical tests and citizens of India were invited to witness the launch from the launch view gallery. July 14th rolled in and Chandrayaan-3 was finally launched; with the health of the spacecraft being recorded as ‘normal’. August 23rd witnessed the spacecraft soft-landing onto the south pole of the moon: “I reached my destination and you too!”: Chandrayaan-3. This moment went down in history as India was the first country to ever land on the south pole of the moon. On the 4th of September, 2023, the lander and rover activated sleep mode, their awakening set to be at around September 22nd 2023.
Chandrayaan-3 was not the only vehicle launched into space by ISRO. It was followed by the Chandrayaan-1 and 2. Chandrayaan-1 was the first lunar probe under the Chandrayaan programme. It was India’s first deep space mission, and played a major role in the discovery of water molecules in the moon. It was launched on the 22nd of October 2008 but came to a abrupt end in 2009. Scientists believe the most likely cause of the end of the mission was the failure of the power supply due to overheating. Chandrayaan-2 was an ISRO mission, who’s lander crashed on the surface of the moon due to its high velocity. It was successfully launched on the 22nd of July, 2019. The shuttle was sent to the moon to further enhance our understanding of the moon, stimulate advancement of technology, promote global alliances and inspire a future generation of explorers and scientists.
Despite some failures, ISRO worked to improve their spacecraft and learn from their previous mistakes. The effort put in by almost 1,000 engineers and scientists throughout the covid-19 pandemic became worth it when the aircraft landed.
