Chandrayaan-3 launch successful: ‘A new chapter in India’s space mission’, says PM Modi

Sriharikota: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated ISRO scientists minutes after the successful take-off of India’s Chandrayaan-3 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, raising hopes of the entire nation. In his message, the PM wrote on Twitter, ”Chandrayaan-3 wrote a new chapter in India’s space journey. It soars high lifting the dreams and ambitions of every Indian. This significant achievement is a testimony to the tireless dedication of our scientists. I salute their spirit and talent!

Chandrayaan-3 wrote a new chapter in India’s space journey. It soars high lifting the dreams and ambitions of every Indian. This significant achievement is a testimony to the tireless dedication of our scientists. I salute his spirit and talent! https://t.co/gko6fnOUaK-Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 14 July 2023

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If successful, the mission will make India the fourth country after Russia, the United States and China to achieve a controlled landing on the Moon. The Moon lander is mounted on the Vikram Mark 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle – called the Bahubali rocket.

Making the entire nation proud, the GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle successfully lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh 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 roughly equivalent to 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 lunar surface and demonstrate the country’s capabilities for safe and soft landing on the lunar surface .
Chandrayaan-3 is ISRO’s follow-up effort after the Chandrayaan-2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was ultimately deemed to have failed in its main mission objectives.

After the orbit raising process, Chandrayaan-3 will be inserted into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory. It will reach the Moon in the coming weeks, covering a distance of over 300,000 km. Scientific instruments onboard will study the lunar surface and enhance our knowledge.

Chandrayaan-3 is equipped with a lander, a rover and a propulsion module. Its weight is about 3,900 kg.
The Moon serves as a repository of Earth’s past and a successful lunar mission by India will help foster life on Earth, as well as enable it to explore the rest of the Solar System and beyond.

July 14, 2023 will always be written in golden letters in the history of India’s space sector, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the launch of the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission.

PM Modi had earlier tweeted, “This remarkable mission will carry forward the hopes and dreams of our nation.” “Thanks to our scientists, India has a very rich history in the space sector. Chandrayaan-1 is considered a pioneer in global lunar missions as it confirmed the presence of water molecules on the Moon. It was featured in over 200 scientific publications from across the world,” PM Modi wrote on Twitter.

“Until Chandrayaan-1, the Moon was considered a bone-dry, geologically inactive and uninhabitable celestial body. Now, it is seen as a dynamic and geologically active body with the presence of water and sub-surface ice,” he said, claiming that it could potentially be inhabited in the future.

Chandrayaan-2 was equally pioneering as data from its orbiter detected the presence of chromium, manganese and sodium for the first time through remote sensing. PM Modi said that this would give more information about the magical evolution of the Moon.

Major scientific outcomes of Chandrayaan-2 include the first global map for lunar sodium, enhanced knowledge on crater size distribution, clear detection of lunar surface water ice with the IIRS instrument and much more. The mission has been featured in nearly 50 publications.

Extending best wishes for the Chandrayaan-3 mission, PM Modi urged people to know more about this lunar mission and the progress made by India in space, science and innovation. “It would make all of you very proud,” he said.

The development phase of Chandrayaan-3 began in January 2020 and the launch was planned sometime in 2021. However, there was an unexpected delay in the progress of the mission due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former ISRO director K Sivan told ANI that the success of mission Chandrayaan-3 will boost the morale of programs like Gaganyaan, India’s first human space mission.

Chandrayaan-3 mission is going to be successful and it will be a game-changer event for India, former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, who played a key role in innovation in the country’s space sector, said on Thursday.

“Chandrayaan-3 will surely prove to be a game changer for India and I am hopeful that it will be successful. India will become an inspiration for the whole world. Let’s wait for the launch and pray for the best,” Nambi Narayanan told ANI.

“I’m assuming, and I hope, it will be a successful mission. Because whatever problem was there in Chandrayaan-2, we actually fixed it all. By failure, we have understood all the mistakes (on our part),” Narayanan, a recipient of ‘Padma Bhushan’, India’s third highest civilian honour, told ANI.