New Delhi: India's Chandrayaan-3 moved closer to the Moon on August 20, after the Lander Module (LM) successfully completed its second and final de-boosting operation. With this, the lander has reached an orbit where the closest point to the Moon is 25 km and the farthest is 134 km, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed on Sunday.
The module will undergo internal checks and wait for sunrise at the designated landing site, ISRO said.
On July 14, India's third mission to the Moon was successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota. A few weeks after this, on August 5, the lander entered the lunar orbit.
When and where will the landing take place?
The lander module is set to touch down on the Moon's surface on August 23, making India the fourth nation after the US, China, and Russia to achieve this feat. ISRO announced the date and time of the historic landing through a tweet, which read, “Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the Moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 Hrs. IST.”
ISRO earlier informed that the lander will attempt a “soft landing” on the south polar region of the Moon. Even after the lander's touch down on the Moon's surface, its propulsion module will continue to orbit the Moon, to study the Earth's atmosphere.
When and where to watch it?
Ahead of the historic day, ISRO, on August 20, shared a tweet, telling how people across the globe can watch Chandrayaan-3 successfully completing its lunar mission.
Through a message on its official site, ISRO informed that the “eagerly anticipated event” will be live broadcast on Wednesday “starting from 17:27 Hrs. IST. The live coverage will be available via multiple platforms, including the ISRO Website, YouTube, ISRO's Facebook page, and DD National TV channel.”
ISRO added, “In light of this, all schools and educational institutions across the nation are invited to play an active role in this historic event. The institutions are invited to actively publicise this event among your students and faculty and organize the LIVE streaming of the Chandrayaan-3 soft landing within the premises.”
You can also watch the historic moment unfold live on NDTV.