Here is the timeline of the moon mission as undertaken by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
This camera that assists in locating a safe landing area -- without boulders or deep trenches -- during the descent is developed by Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre (SAC), a major research and development centre of ISRO.
While New Jersey, US-based OrbitBeyond leads a consortium of subcontractors who have designed and developed hardware for deep space missions, Bengaluru-based Team Indus is leading OrbitBeyond's lander engineering, reports T E Narasimhan.
ISRO Chairman S Somanath had recently said the most critical part of the landing will be the process of reducing the velocity of the lander from 30 km height to the final landing, and the ability to reorient the spacecraft from horizontal to vertical direction. "This is the trick we have to play here," he said.
China's first lunar rover on Saturday successfully landed on the moon, making the communist giant one of three world powers to make a "soft landing" as part of an ambitious programme that aims to put a Chinese astronaut on the moon.
In a giant leap for its space programme, India's Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole at 6.04 pm on Wednesday, propelling the country to an exclusive club of four and making it the first country to land on the uncharted surface.
Here is a glimpse of the journey of India's third lunar exploration venture has taken so far.
Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and the Axiom-4 mission crew safely returned to Earth after an 18-day stay at the International Space Station, splashing down off the coast of San Diego.
Modi gave these directions during a meeting to review the preparedness of the Gaganyaan mission and the first demonstration flight of the crew escape system test vehicle scheduled for October 21.
According to the space agency, Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment measured the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the south pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the Moon's surface.
Meet Indian Space Research Organisation scientist Ningthoujam Raghu Singh, who was one of the bright sparks responsible for sending Chandrayaan-3 to the moon.
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Half a century after America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration stopped sending rockets to the moon, NASA's unmanned Artemis I mission lifted off from launch complex 39-B at Cape Canaveral, Florida, November 16, 2022.
ISRO on Monday said a two-way communication between the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and Chandrayaan-3's Lunar Module has been established.
The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope instrument onboard 'Pragyan' rover of Chandrayaan-3 has 'unambiguously confirmed the presence of sulphur in the lunar surface near south pole, through first-ever in-situ measurements,' ISRO said on Tuesday.
"The panel's report is awaited. The committee has been given a guideline to prepare the mission before the end of next year," a senior ISRO official said. "There is a good launch window in November".
Shukla shared these details in an 18-minute interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday from the International Space Station that is orbiting the earth at an altitude of 400 km.
'It was pitch-dark when we rounded Cape Horn. The waves were coming in full force. It was like a washing machine - -both of us and our boat Tarini.' Naval officer Lt Cdrs Dilna and Roopa describe their amazing voyage around the globe.
Chandrayaan-3 mission's Pragyan rover on Wednesday clicked an image of the Vikram lander, ISRO said.
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India will become the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.
The Lander and the Rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface. The main function of the Propulsion Module (PM) was to carry the Lander Module (LM) from the launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100 km circular polar orbit and separate the LM from PM, which it did.
Sri Lanka has bestowed its highest civilian award, the Mithra Vibhushana, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in recognition of his role in strengthening ties between the two nations. The award was presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at a ceremony in Colombo. PM Modi expressed gratitude, stating the award honors not just him but also the people of India. The Mithra Vibhushana, instituted in 2008, has previously been awarded to prominent figures such as former Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri highlighted the award as a recognition of PM Modi's contribution to strengthening the India-Sri Lanka partnership, particularly during Sri Lanka's economic crisis. The award includes a citation and a silver medal adorned with Sri Lankan gems and symbolic motifs representing shared heritage and prosperity.
'The next decade will be even more transformative,' says Prime Minister Modi. 'We are moving from digital governance to global digital leadership.'
China's lunar mission aiming to send 'robotic explorers' before 2020, on Sunday landed its first satellite on Moon, as the Communist nation braces to compete in space technology with countries like the United States, Russia and India.
Readers have responded resoundingly to our invitation to congratulate the ISRO team for Chandrayaan-3's successful Moon landing.
Docking technology is crucial for sending people and cargo to space stations.
Indian Space Research Organisation's plan to soft land Chandrayaan-2's Vikram module on the Lunar surface did not go as per script in the early hours of Saturday, with the lander losing communication with ground stations during its final descent.
Although Russia, United States and China have achieved a soft landing on the lunar surface, India is aiming at becoming the first one to explore the south pole of the Moon.
The space agency said the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), located at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru, is buzzing with energy and excitement.
Using a comic strip, the ISRO tweeted, showing orbiter telling the lander 'Vikram' that it enjoyed its company before it separated on September 2 afternoon.
The Lucknow-born Shukla, former NASA astronaut Mission Commander Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are part of the Axiom-4 mission that marks the return to space for the three nations.
The initial assessment of the first-ever measurements of the near-surface lunar plasma environment over the south pole region by RAMBHA-LP payload onboard Chandrayaan-3 lander indicates that plasma there is relatively sparse, ISRO said on Thursday.
'Gautam Adani will not be able to step inside Dharavi.' 'We will ensure Adani will not get what he wants.' 'Adani has no reason to do politics with people of Dharavi but he is still doing it.'
Singh also said a final decision on the launch of India's sun mission 'Aditya-L1', scheduled for September 2 at present, will rest on the prevailing cosmic aspects.
There will be two more orbit manoeuvres to make the spacecraft enter into its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the Moon's surface.
Glimpses of SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful super heavy rocket is prepared for launch at the company's Boca Chica launchpad in Brownsville, Texas.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday said the two satellites launched to perform space docking experiments were brought within three metres and then moved safely back in a trial attempt.
The Vikram Moon Lander, named after the father of India's space mission Vikram Sarabhai on his birth centenary year, is scheduled to touch the lunar surface near its south pole on September 7 about 1.55 am.
ISRO hopes to put a crew on the moon, but it has to learn how to keep people alive and healthy in space first.
