Chandrayaan-3 updates: Vikram Lander scheduled to make soft landing at 6.04pm tomorrow

Excitement rose in India on Tuesday on the eve of a much-anticipated moon landing, with prayers held for its success, schools marshalling students to watch a live telecast of the event and space enthusiasts organising parties to celebrate.

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Mylswamy Annadurai, a renowned former ISRO scientist and recipient of the Padma Shri award revealed significant upgrades to the upcoming Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Annadurai told ANI that the spacecraft's landing zone has been expanded to a broader area measuring 4.5 km by 2.5 km. The primary focus of the mission remains to ensure a safe and successful landing, with enhanced fuel requirements and an improved power source compared to its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2.

“The Chandrayaan 3 has a wider area of 4.5 km*2.5 km. The priority is a safe landing. Compared to Chandrayaan 2, the required fuel has also been enhanced. The power source has also been enhanced,” he said.

"Tomorrow is a historic day. For the first time in history, a country will reach the South Pole of the Moon. All the credit goes to India's scientists. I am praying for Chandrayaan-3's soft landing," says former India cricketer R P Singh on Chandrayaan-3's scheduled landing on the Moon tomorrow.

“We all are waiting for the clock to turn 6:04 pm when history will be created. I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the scientists at ISRO, as well as to our government and PM Modi,” BJP leader Ravi Kishan told PTI on Chandrayaan-3's scheduled landing on the Moon tomorrow.

The Moon is estimated to be about 4.5 billion years old, roughly the same age as the Earth. The leading theory about the Moon's formation suggests that a Mars-sized celestial body collided with the young Earth, and the debris from this collision eventually coalesced to form the lunar body. However, current geological evidence from Moon suggests that it may be younger by just 60 million years compared to Earth, said Dr. TV Venkateswaran taking to PTI. 

As anticipation grows for India's planned Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing on Wednesday, an expert delves into the fascinating world of Moon exploration.

The Moon has captivated human curiosity for centuries, and with each new mission, we uncover more about its geological history, composition and potential for scientific discovery.

Dr. TV Venkateswaran, a scientist at Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organisation under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and member of the public outreach committee of the Astronomical Society of India, answers key questions while taking to news agency PTI about the Moon's geological evolution, the significance of its south pole, the presence of water and ice, and India's ambitious plans for lunar exploration. 

“About 80% changes are done (in Chandrayaan-3)...They incorporated many things into Chandrayaan-3. Earlier it was seeing only the height when it is landing, called altimeter, now in addition to that they've also added a velocity meter called doppler, so you will know the height and also velocity, so that it can control itself,” Former ISRO Scientist YS Rajan told ANI on safe landing of Chandrayaan-3.

1. Excitement rose in India on Tuesday on the eve of a much-anticipated moon landing, with prayers held for its success, schools marshalling students to watch a live telecast of the event and space enthusiasts organising parties to celebrate.

2. The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to land on the lunar south pole at 1234 GMT on Wednesday, days after the failure of a Russian vehicle trying to achieve the same feat.

3. Success for Chandrayaan-3 will make it the first to land on the lunar south pole, a region whose shadowed craters are thought to contain water ice that could support a future moon settlement. (Reuters)

“The Chandrayaan 3 has a wider area of 4.5 km*2.5 km. The priority is safe landing. Comparing to Chandrayaan 2, required fuel has also been enhanced. The power source has also been enhanced,” Padma Shri awardee and former ISRO scientist Mylswamy Annadurai told ANI. 

In the previous mission too, ISRO's social media handles had attempted to use lighthearted messaging with a hashtag called #CY2Chronicles. One of the initial posts in the Chandrayaan-2 chronicles series was a comic strip depicting the separation of the propulsion module from the lander module. The post on September 6, 2019 on X (then known as Twitter), Chandrayaan-2's lander module is depicted as saying to the propulsion module -- "It was quite the journey indeed! I will see you around -- in the next orbit." Quite the journey indeed for Chandrayaan-2's module, having orbited through since then to meet its successor Chandrayaan 3's lander module and greet it with a "Welcome buddy!" (PTI)

1. As Chandrayaan-3 cruised and orbited through space to reach within sniffing distance of the Moon, ISRO's official social media handles took an informal approach to keep millions of people glued to their screens.

2. Interspersing their tweets and posts with an occasional "Welcome buddy!" and "Thanks for the ride, Mate!", ISRO's social media handles occasionally departed from using just technical terms to give updates about India's ambitious Moon mission Chandrayaan-3. (PTI)

Space strategist P K Ghosh said on Sunday that one of the "biggest" challenges in the landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the lunar surface is to get the spacecraft from a horizontal to a vertical position.

"One of the biggest things is that it has got to get the spacecraft from a horizontal position to a vertical position. That is difficult. All these aspects have to be looked into," P K Ghosh told ANI.

Chandrayaan 3 underwent the second and final deboosting operation in the early hours of Sunday and is scheduled to land on the moon on Wednesday around 18:04 IST, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Sunday.

“This time all precautions have been taken by ISRO and all lessons have been learnt from the last crash of Vikram. I am very confident that this mission is going to land successfully by 6 PM tomorrow,” Lt Gen (retd) Anil Kumar Bhatt, Director General of Indian Space Association, told news agnecy PTI on the scheduled landing of Chandrayaan-3 on Moon's surface tomorrow.

Unionm minister of State for science and technology, Jitender Singh, on Tuesday shared a video on Chandrayaan 3's journey so far and its graphical representation of soft landing, scheduled to be held at 6.04pm tomorrow (Wednesday). 

“I want to congratulate ISRO. I will pray for a successful soft landing,” says BJP SP Baghel on the scheduled landing of Chandrayaan-3 on Moon's surface tomorrow," said Satya Pal Singh Baghel, BJP Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh's Agra.

"ISRO scientists have worked hard for this, and it will definitely be successful. The south pole of the moon is very important because there is a possibility of water. An interview model of Chandrayaan has also been prepared here as well as a screen has been installed which gives complete information about Chandrayaan-3 Mission," Project Coordinator of Bhopal Science Centre, Saket Singh Kaurav, told ANI. 

On Chandrayaan 3 mission, Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM and BJP leader Brajesh Pathak told ANI, "I congratulate the citizens of the country and all the scientists involved in the mission. Under the leadership of PM Modi, the country is moving forward in all sectors."

"When Chandrayaan-3 will do a soft landing tomorrow, we will be among the four countries which have done soft landing (successful landing) on the moon till now...This will be a proud moment for the people of the country," Anil Kumar Bhatt, DG, Indian Space Association, told ANI.

On Chandrayaan-3, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda told ANI "It is a moment of pride for India, but also for us as we are also a part of the sub-continent. So, congratulations India."