India and space enthusiasts from the rest of the world are counting down on the scheduled landing of the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the surface of the Moon's south pole on Wednesday (August 23).
A deorbit burn is scheduled for Wednesday, followed by a soft landing, according to The Indian Express. Once landed, the lander would deploy the rover it came with for a possible exploration of its surroundings.
The landing is the second attempt for India after the failure of the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019. This also marks the second Moon landing attempt this week after Russia's Luna 25 mission failed to achieve lunar orbit in what was supposed to be a double landing with Chandrayaan-3 in the same general area.
ISRO's Prior Lunar Impactor Mission
Before sending the Chandrayaan lunar missions to attempt soft landings on the Moon, ISRO launched its first Chandrayaan satellite in 2008 with a mission to deliberately impact the Moon under the name "Moon Impact Probe," the Deccan Herald reported.
Chandrayaan-3's primary mission is to discover the Moon's south pole, which scientists believe might store frozen water that could be helpful in allowing future astronauts to stay on the Moon for long periods of time. If successful, India would become the fourth nation to send a spacecraft to the surface of the Moon after the US, the Soviet Union, and China.
A similar mission profile is also being planned by NASA in the form of the Lunar Trailblazer satellite, which would directly support the agency's Artemis missions of returning men on the Moon.
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