India launches a lander and rover to explore the moon’s south pole

India’s space agency has successfully launched a lander and rover to explore the moon’s south pole, in a fresh attempt after a failed mission in 2019.

Mission overview: Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 mission involves an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, which commenced its journey from a launch pad in Sriharikota, southern India.
* The spacecraft is set to land on the moon’s surface in late August.
* The mission was celebrated with applause at the Satish Dhawan Space Center, as well as by thousands of Indians outside the mission control center.

Previous mission woes and current objectives: Their prior unsuccessful mission in 2019, aimed at studying permanently shadowed moon craters thought to contain water, failed due to a software glitch.
* This time, the main objective is to achieve a safe and soft landing on the moon.
* The six-wheeled lander and rover module of Chandrayaan-3 will provide data on lunar soil and rocks, aiding the scientific community with information about their chemical and elemental compositions.

International context: Successful completion of the operation would make India the fourth country to land on the moon’s surface, following the United States, the Soviet Union, and China.
* Other countries and private companies are part of this ongoing global race towards successful lunar landings.

Future plans: India plans its first mission to the International Space Station next year, in collaboration with the United States.
* There are also plans to launch an Indian astronaut from Indian soil on an Indian rocket in the year 2024.
* As of April, India has launched 424 satellites for 34 countries.

View original article on NPR

This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.

Contact us about this post

Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *