Chandrayaan-3's crucial 17-minute landing phase highlights India's ambitious moon mission; set to surpass Russia's Luna 25 in reliability.

Ahmedabad ISRO chairman, Mr. Nilesh Desai, reveals exclusive details on Chandrayaan-3's critical landing phase and ISRO's confidence in the mission's resilience.ISRO's chairman, Nilesh Desai, assures that the organization is prepared with alternative options if the lunar landing is not successful.

India's journey to the moon with Chandrayaan-3 represents a quest for knowledge, not a competition, emphasizing the nation's technological prowess.

ISRO launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Canter aboard the LVM3 rocket and has scheduled the landing for August 23.

"This time we are expecting the Chandrayaan-3 to be a success," former ISRO chief K Sivan said.

ISRO on August 18 achieved a major milestone by completing the first de-boosting manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan-3 mission lander. The lander named Vikram has attained an orbit of 113X157 km around the Moon and ISRO has scheduled its second de-boosting manoeuvre to further slow its speed for a landing on August 20.

Former ISRO Chairman K Sivan said that the Lander is now very close to the Moon adding that the next operation would be further reducing its orbit to 30X100 km.
— ISRO (@isro) August 18, 2023

Speaking to Republic TV after the successful de-boosting, Sivan said that the Chandrayaan-3 team fixed the issues in the propulsion system, guidance system and control system to ensure a successful landing. ISRO launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center aboard the LVM3 rocket and it is scheduled to land on the South Pole of the Moon on August 23.

"This time we are expecting the Chandrayaan-3 to be a success," Sivan said. Explaining the significance of a soft landing by the Vikram lander, the former ISRO chief said, "First of all, by soft landing on the Moon, India will acquire new technology. Secondly, we are landing on an unexplored location near the South Pole."

Anxious Moment For The World: MoS Jitendra Singh

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh said that Chandrayaan-3 inching closer to landing is an anxious moment for the entire world and reflected on the legacy of the Chandrayaan missions. Sivan also admitted being anxious about the landing but said that the confidence level is higher for this lunar mission.

"This is an anxious moment not only for India but for the entire world," Dr. Singh said recalling Chandrayaan-1's success in discovering water molecules on the Moon. "Remember it was Chandrayaan-1 which brought the evidence of the presence of water molecules on the lunar south pole. Chandrayaan has a legacy, a history which is exclusive to it," the Minister said.

The Chandrayaan-1 mission was launched in 2008 and the Moon Impact Probe which was dropped on the surface by the orbiter discovered water molecules near the Shackelton Crater in 2009.

Dr. Singh further said that the success of Chandrayaan-3 would make India truly Aatmanirbhar and help other nations including the US in their space program. "The data from the lunar south pole will be useful for premier institutions like NASA because they too would be basing their space plans on the data of Chandrayaan-3," he said adding that the lunar mission has reaffirmed India's position as a front-runner in the space sector.