Blitz Bureau
CHANDRAYAAN-3, a historic achievement of India’s science and determination, completed two years on July 14. The primary objective of this mission was to place a lander and rover in the highlands near the Moon’s south pole and to demonstrate end-to-end landing and roving capabilities. On this day in 2023, LVM3 M4 rocket developed by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 into orbit.
Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous propulsion module, a lander module, and a rover to develop and demonstrate new technologies required for interplanetary missions. On August 23, 2023, Chandrayaan-3 successfully soft-landed on the Moon’s south pole. With this landing, India became the fourth nation to successfully land on the Moon and the first to achieve a soft landing near the lunar south pole.
During the mission, several experiments, including measurement of near-surface plasma content, presence of mineral elements, temperature profile of the lunar topsoil were conducted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi named the site where the Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover landed on the lunar surface as Shiva Shakti.