UK Space Agency Congratulates India On Chandrayaan-3's Success

Director of Championing Space at the UK Space Agency Professor Anu Ojha OBE congratulated India on the successful soft-landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon. 

He further said that the successful landing of Chandryaan-3 in the southern polar region of the moon is evidence that we are living in a new space age. 

"Congratulations to India on this amazing feat of engineering and perseverance. The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 in the southern polar region of the moon is further evidence that we are living in a new space age, with space agencies and companies across the world setting their sights on the Moon and beyond," Anu Ojha OBE said in a statement. 

He further said, "This current crop of missions is focused on new areas of opportunity - there are important scientific discoveries to be made about the presence of water on the lunar surface, which could support humans to live and work there for extended periods of time."

Anu Ojha highlighted that the UK Space Agency is committed to supporting these international efforts. 

"The UK Space Agency is committed to supporting these international efforts and putting UK science and technology at the heart of some of the most exciting global exploration missions, for the benefit of our planet and its people," he said. 

The UK Space Agency also congratulated ISRO on Chandrayaan-3 landing.

"History made! Congratulations to @isro #Chandrayaan3," the UK Space Agency tweeted on Wednesday. 

The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota on July 14.

A GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle was used for the launch of the spacecraft that was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5 and since then it was through a series of orbital manoeuvres been lowered closer to the moon's surface.

Ever since the July 14 launch, ISRO had been maintaining that the health of the spacecraft remained "normal".

On August 5, Chandrayaan-3 was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit with multiple key manoeuvres thereafter.

Then on August 17, the mission marked another giant leap in its lunar quest as the 'Vikram' lander module of the spacecraft successfully separated from the propulsion module on Thursday. The Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander is named after Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971), who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programme.

Then the deboosting of the Lander module was undertaken in two phases. Deboosting is the process of slowing down to position itself in an orbit where the orbit's closest point to the Moon is.

The stated objectives of Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar mission, were a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, the rover moving on the moon's surface, and in-situ scientific experiments.

Upon landing, the lander and the rover were to operate for one lunar day. One day on the Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth.

Chandrayaan-3's development phase commenced in January 2020, with the launch planned sometime in 2021.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic brought an unforeseen delay to the mission's progress. The approved cost of Chandrayaan-3 is Rs 250 crores (excluding launch vehicle cost).

Chandrayaan-2 mission was only "partially successful" since the lander lost contact after a hard landing, but the ISRO earlier this week successfully established two-way communication between the Chandrayaan-3 lander module and the still orbiting Chandrayaan-2 orbiter.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) founder Vikram Sarabhai, who is considered the father of the Indian space program, once said India must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems facing society.

The establishment of the ISRO was one of Vikram Sarabhai's greatest achievements. He successfully convinced the government of the day of the importance of a space programme for a developing country like India.  

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