Looking forward to successful landing of Chandrayaan-3, says Russian Consul General

Russian Consul General to South India Oleg Nikolayevich Avdeev on Wednesday said that everyone has great expectations from Chandhrayaan-3 and he too was looking forward to the successful landing of the rover on the lunar surface today.

“Today Chandhrayaan-3 is expected to land on the surface of the moon. Everyone in India is eagerly waiting for that to happen. Everyone has great expectations and I am also looking forward to the successful landing of the rover on the surface of the moon…,” said Avdeev.

#WATCH | On Chandrayaan-3 mission, Russian Consul General to South India, Oleg Nikolayevich Avdeev says, “Today Chandhrayaan 3 is expected to land on the surface of the moon. Everyone in India is eagerly waiting for that to happen. Everyone has great expectations & I am also… pic.twitter.com/dUrQG2BLz5

— ANI (@ANI) August 23, 2023

ISRO’s ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) is all set to land on the lunar surface today evening, as India eyes to become the first country to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.

The LM comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), is scheduled to make a touch down near the south polar region of the Moon at 6:04 pm on Wednesday.

Once the Vikram Module lands safely, it will perform a systems check and run a few diagnostics. It will also prepare the Pragyan Rover to go out on to the lunar surface and carry out its data and sample collection.

The Pragyaan rover will be on its mission for 14 days, during which it will be analysing the Moon’s surface for traces of water ice, helium-3 and many other critical components.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which has been developed for just over Rs 600 crore, will be critical to India’s future space missions as well as for other countries. Chandrayaan-3’s experiments will determine whether it is feasible to set up a launch station for interplanetary expeditions, on the Moon.

Furthermore, Chandrayaan-3’s findings will tell us whether the moon is a viable option for our clean energy goals. Scientists believe that Helium-3 or He-3 holds the key to virtually limitless clean energy, and will be vital for the world, in achieving our clean energy goals.

If the Chandrayaan-3 mission succeeds in making a touchdown on moon and in landing a robotic lunar rover in ISRO’s second attempt in four years, India will become the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 and its objectives are to demonstrate safe and soft-landing on the lunar surface, roving on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

Chandrayaan-2 had failed in its lunar phase when its lander ‘Vikram’ crashed into the surface of the Moon following anomalies in the braking system in the lander while attempting a touch down on September 7, 2019. Chandrayaan’s maiden mission was in 2008.

The Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on 14 July onboard Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket, for a 41-day voyage to reach near the lunar south pole.

The soft-landing is being attempted days after Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control.

With inputs from agencies