Days before Chandrayaan-3's lander Vikram touches down on the surface of the Moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that it has established a two-way communication with the orbiter of the mission's predecessor. Though the lander of Chandrayaan-2 mission was lost, PRADAN, the orbiter, is currently in a 100 km x 100 km orbit around the Moon. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), ISRO said that the orbiter sent a welcome message to lander Vikram, which is attempting to land on the far side of the Moon.
"'Welcome, buddy!' Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM. Two-way communication between the two is established. MOX has now more routes to reach the LM," the space agency said in its post.
It also informed that the live telecast of the landing will begin at 5.20pm on August 23 (Wednesday).
Ahead of the touchdown, Vikram clicked the images of the Moon's craters on the unexplored lunar south pole region, which always faces away from the Earth.
The images, captured last Saturday, identified the craters: Hayn, Boss L, Mare Humboldtianum, and Bel'kovich. They have been shared by ISRO on the social media platform.
Former ISRO chief and in-charge of the previous lunar mission Chandrayaan-2, K Sivan, on Monday said that the mission will be a "grand success".
"It's a very anxious moment...I'm sure that this time it will be a grand success," Mr Sivan told news agency ANI.
The landing will be covered live on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster Doordarshan.
The lander module of the spacecraft successfully separated from the propulsion module on Thursday, and subsequently underwent crucial "deboosting" manoeuvres and descended to a slightly lower orbit. 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.
