India's Chandrayaan-3: Mission to Land at Lunar South Pole

India has launched its third Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, with a goal to be the first to land near the little-explored lunar south pole. The spacecraft, comprising an orbiter, lander, and rover, lifted off from the Sriharikota space centre at 14:35 on Friday (09:05 GMT). If successful, India will join the US, the former Soviet Union, and China as the only countries to achieve a soft landing on the Moon. With thousands of people witnessing the launch, excitement filled the air as the spacecraft embarked on its journey towards the Moon.

Chandrayaan-3 follows India's first Moon mission in 2008, which discovered water on the lunar surface near the south pole. Its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, launched in 2019, and although its orbiter continues to study the Moon, the lander-rover failed to make a soft landing due to a braking system glitch. The new mission aims to build on past successes, gathering data on the Moon's surface, atmosphere, and tectonic activity. Chandrayaan-3's lander, named Vikram, carries a 26kg rover called Pragyaan, set to explore the uncharted south pole region.

The south pole remains largely unexplored, and Chandrayaan-3's mission is to unveil the secrets hidden in the areas permanently in shadow. With the potential for water in these regions, scientists hope to make significant scientific discoveries. The landing will require precision timing to coincide with the start of a lunar day, as sunlight is essential to charge and operate the lander and rover. The mission's success will not only bolster India's space program but also contribute to global efforts in understanding the Moon's potential as a gateway to deep space exploration.

India's space program, which began in the early 2000s, has evolved into a source of national pride, attracting talent and prestige for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Beyond national pride, ISRO's vision extends to the future of humanity, seeking to develop the Moon as an outpost for deep space exploration. Chandrayaan-3's success will mark a significant step toward realizing this vision, with India's probes leading the way in exploring and inhabiting the Moon as an extended continent of Earth.