Bengaluru: ISRO’s third lunar endeavor, Chandrayaan-3, has successfully accomplished a soft landing on the moon. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) verified the smooth touchdown just after 6 pm IST on Wednesday, marking India as the first nation to reach the moon’s untapped south pole.
“India has now set foot on the moon,” announced ISRO’s Chief, S. Somanath.
Joining an Exclusive Club
India now stands alongside an exclusive trio of countries—formerly the Soviet Union, the United States, and China—that have successfully executed soft landings on the moon, and have even returned soil and rock samples from the lunar surface to Earth.
“The entire mission unfolded seamlessly, right on schedule,” stated P. Veeramuthuvel, the Project Director of Chandrayaan-3.
M. Sankaran, who serves as the Director of the UR Rao Satellite Centre and was a key participant in the Chandrayaan-3 project, noted that India has significantly raised the stakes. “Nothing short of extraordinary will motivate us going forward,” he added.
Sankaran revealed that ISRO’s upcoming goals include spacecraft missions to Venus and Mars landings.
What Sets Chandrayaan-3 Apart
The Soviet Union only managed to make a lunar impact on its sixth attempt with its Luna-2 mission in 1959. NASA also experienced numerous setbacks, succeeding in lunar missions only after 13 unsuccessful crash-landing attempts. Their Ranger 7 mission became a pivotal moment in lunar exploration, sending back thousands of images that aided in identifying safe landing spots for future Apollo missions.
China’s lunar expeditions began with orbiter missions that produced comprehensive maps for future soft landing sites. Their Chang’e 3 and 4 missions both successfully landed on the moon and deployed rovers for exploration. The Chang’e 5 mission, launched in 2020, brought back two kilograms of lunar soil to Earth.
India’s journey to the moon started with Chandrayaan-1, launched in 2008. The spacecraft orbited the moon and generated a detailed mapping of the lunar surface. Although the mission was curtailed due to loss of communication in 2009, it was followed by Chandrayaan-2 in 2019, which unfortunately crash-landed due to a software issue.
The Landing Process
According to officials at ISRO, the lander engaged its thrusters at an altitude of around 30 km to initiate the powered braking phase. As it descended, the lander then shut off two of its four engines at about 6.8 km in altitude, to slow its speed for landing. Once it reached an altitude between 150 and 100 meters, the lander used its sensors and cameras to survey the landing area for obstacles, eventually completing a successful soft landing.
