Bengaluru: The launch of India's third moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, captured the attention of millions of people around the world. The successful liftoff of the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3) rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Friday was a significant milestone for the country.
A passenger on a flight from Chennai to Dhaka had a remarkable opportunity to witness and record the launch from a window seat. The fascinating video was shared on Twitter by Dr P V Venkitakrishnan, a retired director of ISRO Materials and a rocket manufacturing expert. The footage showcased the historical moment as the pilot of the flight announced the event.
Since its sharing, the video has gone viral, accumulating hundreds of thousands of views and countless likes. The passenger's photographic prowess left many internet users awestruck by the stunning visuals captured from the plane window.
While the launch was a momentous occasion, the journey of Chandrayaan-3 from Earth to the moon is estimated to take approximately a month. The spacecraft is expected to land on the lunar surface on August 23, where it will operate for one lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days. Chandrayaan-3 aims to make India the fourth country to achieve a safe and soft landing on the moon's surface, following the United States, China, and Russia. This lunar exploration mission serves as a testament to the country's capabilities in space exploration.
The mission comes as a follow-up to Chandrayaan-2, which faced challenges during its soft landing in 2019 and was unable to fulfill its core mission objectives. Chandrayaan-3 is equipped with a lander, a rover, and a propulsion module, weighing around 3,900 kilograms.
Over the course of its journey, Chandrayaan-3 will cover a distance of more than 300,000 kilometers and conduct scientific studies of the moon's surface, contributing to our understanding of Earth's natural satellite.