Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday released the video captures of the Moon’s surface as recorded by Chandrayaan 3’s Vikram lander. One of the videos, filmed by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) on August 15, while attached to the propulsion module, provides a clear view of Moon craters. Another video, captured by the Lander Imager (LI) camera-1, offers a glimpse of Earth, albeit in a smaller form.
In the first video, recorded on Indian Independence Day, the moon’s dark side is seen in where the lander will attempt a soft touchdown on August 23. The second video features Earth with the Moon in the background. The video is captured just after the landing module and propulsion module separation, successfully undertaken by ISRO on Thursday. The visuals also show far-side lunar impact craters including Fabry, Giordano Bruno and Harkhebi J.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
🌖 as captured by the
Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC)
on August 15, 2023#Chandrayaan_3#Ch3 pic.twitter.com/nGgayU1QUS— ISRO (@isro) August 18, 2023
Countdown for lander’s touchdown begins
Chandrayaan-3 begins its final countdown to a successful soft-landing on moon. Earlier on August 17, the Vikram lander module performed a successful separation from the propulsion module, ISRO informed. Now, the lander module will make an attempt to do a soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon on 23 August.
Also Read: Lander leaves Chandrayaan-3, gears up for soft landing on moon
If the Chandrayaan-3 mission succeeds, India will become the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing by a robotic lunar rover on the Moon’s surface after the US, China, and the former Soviet Union.
India’s failed Moon mission
The Chandrayaan-3 Mission, which was launched on 14 July 2023, is the second attempt by the ISRO to send a spacecraft to the Moon. Four years ago, ISRO made a similar attempt but things did not work out as per the plan. ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 Mission failed in its lunar phase because its lander ‘Vikram’ crashed into the surface of the moon following anomalies in the braking system in the lander while attempting a soft landing on September 7, 2019.
Also Read: Chandrayaan3 shares 1st images of moon as it enters lunar gravity
Lander capable of safe landing despite sensor, engine failures
S Somanath, ISRO head, had said that even in the event of non-functioning sensors and two engines, the lunar lander Vikram from India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, is capable of achieving a gentle touchdown on the Moon’s surface come August 23rd.
