The Indian Space Research Organisation launched its third mission, Chandrayaa-3, on Sriharikota on July 14. The mission is aimed to land the LVM3-M4 rocket in the southern unexplored region of the moon. Successfully landing the rocket on the desired surface of the moon will make India only fourth country to have been able to do it.
It has been planned that the Vikram lander will land on the South pole of the moon on August 23 at 5.47 pm.
At the end of the 25.30 hour countdown, the LVM3-M4 rocket, which has gained nickname of ‘Fat Boy’ for being the largest and heaviest in its class, majestically lifted off at a prefixed time at 2.35 p.m. from the second launch pad, discharging thick plumes of smoke.
Earlier, the ISRO scientists had launched Chandrayaan-2, which translates to ‘moon vehicle’ in Sanskrit, only to lose contact with the spacecraft’s lander Vikram. Post the failed attempt on September 7, 2019, this the third time that the engineers have once again successfully launched the mission.
Chandrayaan-3 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.