By The much-anticipated Chandrayaan 3 lunar mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced its official launch date for this month. Scheduled to take off on Friday, July 14 at 2:35 PM IST from SDSC, Sriharikota, the latest space mission to the Moon is set to captivate the world’s attention. ISRO made the announcement through a post shared on Thursday, ensuring that space enthusiasts stay up-to-date with the progress.
For the Chandrayaan-3 mission, ISRO has chosen the LVM3-M4 as the launch vehicle. The spacecraft has already been successfully mated to this launch vehicle, signifying a significant step forward in the preparations for the mission. The ultimate goal for ISRO is to achieve a soft landing of the Chandrayaan 3 spacecraft on the Lunar surface. Previously, a mid-July launch timeline was discussed, with a projected landing on the Moon’s surface around August 23. The upcoming launch will be livestreamed across various platforms, allowing everyone to follow the launcher’s progress once it leaves Earth’s atmosphere.
Reports indicate that extensive testing has been conducted on the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which has now been securely encapsulated within the rocket’s payload fairing or heat shield. The spacecraft is currently being readied at the Sriharikota rocket port in Andhra Pradesh. The primary objective of this mission is to safely land the lander on the Moon’s surface, followed by the deployment of a rover to conduct a range of experiments.
Compared to the previous lander used in the Chandrayaan-2 mission, the current lander has undergone several modifications. It now features four motors instead of five, and certain software changes have been implemented. However, specific details such as the names of the lander and rover to be deployed for this mission are still unknown.
An exciting addition to the upcoming Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission is the inclusion of the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload. This advanced equipment has been specifically designed to conduct extensive studies and gather valuable data on Earth’s spectral and polarimetric measurements from the lunar orbit.
The inclusion of the SHAPE payload in this mission holds immense importance as it expands our knowledge of Earth and enhances scientific research in the field of planetary exploration. With the Chandrayaan 3 mission set to launch soon, the world eagerly awaits the groundbreaking discoveries and accomplishments that lie ahead.
