On August 23, 2023, India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is approaching a pivotal final stage, scheduled to execute a lunar surface landing around 6:04 pm. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has confirmed the mission’s continued progress as of August 22, and the live broadcast is set to begin on Wednesday at 5:20 pm.

A significant focus is placed on the potential achievement of a ‘soft landing’ by the Lander at the Moon’s southern pole. If successful, India would become the only nation to accomplish this feat. Subsequently, a rover, a small vehicle designed for mobility on the lunar surface, would disembark from the Lander.

In our prior coverage on July 14, we offered an overview of the mission, including insights into the launch process and background details about the previous Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 missions. This information can be accessed by clicking here.”

ISRO has delineated three main objectives for the mission: firstly, to demonstrate a secure and gentle landing on the lunar surface; secondly, to exhibit the rover’s mobility on the Moon; and thirdly, to conduct scientific experiments directly on-site. The term ‘soft landing’ refers to a controlled descent conducted slowly and meticulously to safeguard the spacecraft from harm. Amitabha Ghosh, a scientist involved in NASA’s Mars Rover mission, succinctly explained the concept in The Indian Express: “Imagine a spacecraft hurtling through space at a speed ten times that of an airplane, needing to decelerate almost to a complete halt for a smooth landing on Earth — all within a matter of minutes and notably, without any human intervention. In essence, this encapsulates the idea of a soft landing.”