The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its third lunar mission -- Chandrayaan 3 on Friday (July 14), The Hindu reported.
The Vikram lander of the mission is expected to soft-land on the surface of the South Pole region of the Moon on around August 23 or August 24.
At the end of the 25.30 hour countdown, the LVM3-M4 rocket with the Vikram lander on board, the largest and heaviest in its class and dubbed as ‘Fat Boy’, lifted off majestically at a prefixed time at 2.35 p.m. from the second launch pad, discharging thick plumes of smoke.
Today’s lunar expedition follows the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission where space scientists are aiming for a soft landing on the surface of the moon. A successful mission would see India enter an elite club of nations achieving such a feat, the others being the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.
The Chandrayaan-3 which will be India’s third lunar mission consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM), and a rover with the objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.
The dream run of India’s ambitious second lunar mission, Chandrayaan 2 ended in a tragedy early as the ISRO lost contact with the spacecraft’s Vikram lander.
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