ISRO unveils first images of Moon captured by Chandrayaan-3
text_fields
Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released the first set of images of the moon captured by Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar mission, after successfully entering the Moon's orbit on Saturday.
"The Moon, as viewed by #Chandrayaan3 spacecraft during Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) on August 5, 2023," tweeted the Mission's official Twitter handle.
Chandrayaan-3, mounted on GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota on July 14. It has covered about two-thirds of the distance to the Moon since its launch.
India has now become the fourth country, following the US, China, and Russia, to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon's surface, demonstrating the country's capability for a safe and soft landing.
After landing, Chandrayaan-3 is expected to operate for one lunar day, which is equivalent to approximately 14 Earth days.
The development phase of Chandrayaan-3 began in January 2020, with the initial launch planned for 2021. However, due to the unforeseen delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the mission's progress was affected.
Chandrayaan-3 serves as ISRO's follow-up attempt after the Chandrayaan-2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was eventually deemed to have failed its core mission objectives.
The approved cost of Chandrayaan-3 is Rs 250 crore (excluding launch vehicle cost), and it marks India's continuous pursuit of lunar exploration and space research.
