India’s historic cut-price Moon mission set for touchdown

Bengaluru, India, (AFP/APP):India readied Wednesday to become the first nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon’s south pole, days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region.

The world’s most populous nation is closing in on milestones set by global space powers such as the United States and Russia, conducting many of its missions at much-lower price tags.

Chandrayaan-3, which means “Moon craft” in Sanskrit, is scheduled to touch down shortly after 6:00 pm India time (1230 GMT) near the little-explored lunar south pole.

A previous Indian effort failed in 2019, but former K. Sivan, a former head of the country’s space agency, said the latest photos from the lander gave every indication that the final leg of the voyage would succeed.

“It is giving some encouragement that we will be able to achieve the landing mission without any problem,” he told AFP.

Sivan added that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had made corrections after the failure of four years ago when scientists lost contact with that lunar module moments before its slated landing.

“Chandrayaan-3 is going to go with more ruggedness,” he said. “We expect that everything will go smoothly.”

The mission has captivated public attention since launching nearly six weeks ago in front of thousands of cheering spectators.

“India reaches for the Moon,” The Times of India front-page headline read Wednesday, with the hoped-for lunar landing dominating local news.

Chandrayaan-3 took much longer to reach the Moon than the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived in a matter of days.

India is using rockets much less powerful than the ones the United States used back then, meaning the probe had to orbit the Earth several times to gain speed before embarking on its month-long journey.

The lander, Vikram, which means “valour” in Sanskrit, detached from its propulsion module last week and has been sending images of the Moon’s surface since entering lunar orbit on August 5.

Once it lands, a solar-powered rover will explore the surface and transmit data to Earth over its two-week lifespan.