India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission to be launched on Friday; ISRO aims to master soft landing on lunar surface
Successful landing would make India only 4th country to achieve the feat after US, China and the former Soviet Union
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission to be launched on Friday; ISRO aims to master soft landing on lunar surface
Sriharikota: As the scientific community is waiting with bated breath aiming for the successful launch of the third edition of India’s Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, on Friday, here is a quick look at how the country’s lunar expedition evolved over the years. The Chandrayaan programme was conceived by the Government of India and formally announced by the former Prime Minister, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on August 15, 2003.
Subsequently, the hard work of the scientists paid off when the maiden mission onboard ISRO’s trusted PSLV-C 11 rocket lifted off on October 22, 2008.
According to the Indian Space Research Organisation, PSLV-C11 was an updated version of the standard configuration of a PSLV. Weighing 320 tonnes at lift-off, the vehicle used larger strap-on motors to achieve higher payload capability.
It carried 11 scientific instruments built in India, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Bulgaria.
Noted scientist Mayilsami Annadurai from Tamil Nadu led the project as the Mission Director of the Chandrayaan-1 mission.
The spacecraft was orbiting around the Moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon.
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