The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 mission is scheduled to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 2.35 PM IST on Friday, July 14. Here is how you can watch the event live.
The launch of the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark – III) carrying the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander, rover and propulsion module will be streamed on ISRO’s website and YouTube channel. You can catch it through the link below when it goes live at 2 PM IST on July 14. You can also visit indianexpress.com for live updates about the mission as it happens.
What to expect during the livestream
Chandrayaan-3 is the successor of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which crashed into the lunar surface in September 2019. Just like its predecessor, Chandrayaan-3 consists of a lander and rover configuration, which will be carried to a 100-kilometre lunar orbit by a propulsion module.
The primary objective of the mission is to demonstrate a safe soft landing on the moon for the mission’s Vikram lander. If ISRO pulls that off, India will just be the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, joining a list that includes the United States, the erstwhile Soviet Union and China. Private space company-led attempts to achieve a lunar soft landing from Israel and Japan have failed in the recent past, just like India’s previous attempt.
Both the lander and rover carry many scientific payloads. While the main function of the propulsion module is to carry the mission into its final lunar orbit after the launch vehicle completes injection, it also carries a scientific payload which will begin operation after the lander separates.
Watch LIVE STREAMING
The mission’s main objectives are:
- To demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface
- To demonstrate rover roving on the moon and
- To conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
First announced in January 2020, ISRO began the development phase of Chandrayaan 3, with scientists and engineers working on the design and assembly of the spacecraft. The lander for the current mission has more robust impact legs than Chandrayaan 2.
Initially slated to be launched in early 2021, the development and assembling of the spacecraft was delayed due by the COVID-19 pandemic. The second wave of the pandemic caused further delays even though the manufacturing and testing of the propulsion systems were almost done by May 2021.
With the date finally being set on July 2023, the spacecraft will be launched onboard the Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM 3) rocket.
Consisting of a separate lander and rover module, the spacecraft is likely to land near the moon’s South Pole and operate for one lunar day, equivalent to 14 earth days.
The current mission will follow the same trajectory as Chandrayaan 2, where the propulsion module will orbit earth several times before slingshotting towards the moon. Once within the moon’s gravitational pull, the module will lower itself to a 100 x 100 km circular orbit. Then, the lander will detach and descending to the surface.
The module will take approximately a month to reach the moon from the time of launch. The landing is scheduled for August 23-24, although this may change depending on when the Sun rises over the moon. If there is a delay, ISRO will reschedule the landing for September.
The previous ISRO chairperson K. Sivan has described the descent as “15 minutes of terror”.
Once on the lunar surface, the lander, called ‘Vikram’ (after Vikram Sarabhai), will deploy its four scientific payloads to study the moon’s surface temperature and subterranean characteristics. The module has an instrument called the ‘Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth’ (SHAPE), which will collect data about the light emitted and reflected by the earth.
The rover, called ‘Pragyan’, will study the lunar surface using chemical and visual tests as it roves around.
