NORTHLINES CORRESPONDENT
Sriharikota, July 14: India's third Lunar exploratory mission Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft was successfully placed in the precise orbit by ISRO's heaviest launch vehicle “Fat Boy' LVM3-M4 on Friday from the SHAR Range-SDSC here, marking the commencement of its 42-day long journey towards the hither to unexplored Moon's South Polar Region.
After a 25.5 hour countdown, the 43.5 m tall launch vehicle, with a lift off mass of 642 tonnes, took off majestically from the Second Launch Pad at 2.35 p.m from the SHAR Range, which was witnessed by hundreds of people, including school and college students and women, who cheered every moment by carrying the Indian tricolour.
After the ignition and separation of all the three stages and after a flight duration of 16 minutes, Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft was injected into a 179 km Orbit successfully amid jubilant scenes at the Mission Control Centre.
ISRO tweeted after the launch, “LVM3 M4 vehicle successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 into orbit.”
“Chandrayaan-3, in its precise orbit, has begun its journey to the Moon”, it said.
The Health of the Spacecraft is normal, it added.
After undertaking orbit raising manoeuvres in the coming days, the Chandrayaan-3 will begin its long journey for a safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
After a more than 3.8 lakh km journey, the soft landing was expected to take place in the last week of August.
The landing date will be decided when there is sunrise on the moon. “When we are landing, sunlight must be there. So the landing will be on August 23 or 24,” according to ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, who said the coming 42 days of the Chandrayaan-3's journey was very important and crucial.
The 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 future inter-planetary missions.
The success of Chandrayaan-3 will make it the surface mission closest to the lunar southpole to date, a region of the moon that has been found to be geologically unique and host to spots in permanent shadow.
A perfect soft landing on the Moon's surface will make India the fourth country to accomplish this feat, thereby joining a select group of space-faring nations.
Only three countries have managed to soft-land on the moon. For USA, the success came after several failed attempts. It landed Surveyor 1 on the moon in 1966 during the height of the space race. China, on the other hand, landed Chang'e 3 successfully on its first attempt. Just a few months before, Surveyor 1, of the then Soviet Union achieved the first successful soft landing with Luna 9.
India too nearly achieved in its maiden attempt when it launched Chandryaan-2 in July 2019, before the lander crash landed very close to the landing spot, making the mission about 99.99 per cent success.
President Droupady Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and various leaders hailed the Team ISRO for achieving a monumental feat.
While the President termed it as another significant milestone in space exploration, Prime Minister said Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in India's space odyssey and soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian.
In a tweet, the President said “India successfully launches Chandrayaan-3 marking another significant milestone in space exploration.”
After the successful mission Mr Modi tweeted, “Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in India's space odyssey. It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian.”
“This momentous achievement is a testament to our scientists' relentless dedication”, he said.
“I salute their spirit and ingenuity!”, Mr Modi said.
Meanwhile, a beaming Somanath, addressing the scientists after the successful launch, said “Congrats India”.
Chandryaan-3 has started its journey to the moon. The LVM3-M4 has precisely placed the Chandrayaan-3 in the 170 x 36500 km Orbit.
“It will travel towards moon in the coming days after undertaking orbit raising maneouvers”, he said.
The European Space Agency (ESA) will help ISRO in tracking the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft.
ESA's 15 m antenna in Kourou, French Guiana, will be used to track Chandrayaan-3 to help ensure that the spacecraft survived the rigours of lift off and is in good health as it begins its journey to the Moon.
IT said as the spacecraft recedes from Earth, ESA will coordinate tracking support from the 32-metre antenna operated by Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd in the UK.
Goonhilly will support Chandrayaan-3's propulsion and lander modules. Crucially, it will support the lander during the entire phase of lunar surface operations, helping to ensure that science data acquired by the rover arrives safely with ISRO in India.
The two European stations will compliment support from NASA's Deep Space Network and ISRO's own stations to ensure the spacecraft's operators never lose sight of their pioneering Moon craft.
