ISRO’s race to the Moon: The countdown begins for Chandrayaan-3

India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), is set to embark on its next lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3.

According to S Somanath, the Chairman of ISRO, the launch will occur at 2:35pm on Friday, July 14th from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The Chairman and top officials of ISRO have been overseeing the pre-launch activities since Wednesday, ensuring a smooth countdown that began at 1:00pm IST on Thursday.

The chairman relayed the news to the media during a visit to the Changalamman Devi temple near the spaceport, where he sought blessings for a successful launch. The Chandrayaan-3 will embark on its journey using the robust LVM3 rocket, orbiting Earth before starting its gradual journey to the moon. If everything goes according to plan, a lunar soft-landing is expected around August 23rd.

ISRO gears up for Chandrayaan-3 launch: A new chapter in lunar exploration. Photo courtesy of Janusz Walczak from Pixabay.

Drawing parallels with the previous lunar missions, the Chairman highlighted the successes of Chandrayaan-1, which lasted over six months and discovered the presence of water on the moon, and Chandrayaan-2, which confirmed this finding. He affirmed that each mission has been successful in its unique way.

Emphasizing the significance of traditions and cultures in space missions, the Chairman noted his visit to the temple to seek blessings for the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Earlier in the day, ISRO officials had also offered prayers at the revered Venkateshwara Swami temple, commonly known as the Tirupati temple, in Tirumala.