"Let us keep fingers crossed...": Ex-ISRO scientist

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientist, Nambi Narayanan, who has been instrumental in the country’s space sector innovation, on Friday congratulated the country's space agency over the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3. "Congratulations to the ISRO team. The moral support you all gave and the enthusiasm you exhibited...Let us hope that we will have a very successful mission ahead of us," he said.

Hoping for a successful lunar mission, Narayanan said, "Let us keep our fingers crossed and wait for 43 days." Earlier today, Chandrayaan-3 was successfully launched on GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota as per the scheduled launch time.

The journey from Earth to the moon for the spacecraft is estimated to take about a month, and the landing is expected on August 23. Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days.

One day on the Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth. Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission, will make India the fourth country after the US, China, and Russia, to land its spacecraft on the surface of the moon and demonstrate the country’s abilities for safe and soft landing on the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3 is the 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. Chandrayaan-3 will be inserted into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory after the orbit-raising manoeuvres. Covering a distance of over 300,000 km, it will reach the Moon in the coming weeks. Scientific instruments onboard will study the Moon’s surface and enhance our knowledge.

Chandrayaan-3 is equipped with a lander, a rover, and a propulsion module. It weighs around 3,900 kilograms.