Page 7 - Moon Mission

Russian space agency chief blames decades of inactivity for Luna-25 crash

The head of Russia's space agency said Monday that the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after its engines failed to shut down correctly, and he blamed the country's decades-long pause in lunar exploration for the mishap. The pilotless Luna-25 had been scheduled to land Monday while aiming to become the first spacecraft to touch down on the south pole of the moon, an area where scientists believe important reserves of frozen water and precious elements may exist. Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov said the spacecraft's engines were turned on over the weekend to put Luna-25 into a pre-landing orbit" but did not shut down properly, plunging the lander onto the moon. Instead of the planned 84 seconds, it worked for 127 seconds. This was the main reason for the emergency, Borisov told Russian state news channel Russia 24. Roscosmos had contact with the spacecraft until 2:57 p.m. local time Saturday, when communication was lost and the device passed into an open lunar orbit

Chandrayaan-3 will soon land on moon's surface, check latest updates here

ISRO said the orbit of Chandrayaan-3 mission's Lander Module was reduced on Sunday. The crash of Russia's Luna-25 will not impact India's Chandrayaan-3 mission, said India's top space scientist

Chandrayaan-3 completes last Moon-bound manoeuvre, gears up for propulsion

India's ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission hit another mark on Wednesday when its spacecraft successfully underwent a fifth and final lunar-bound orbit manoeuvre, which brings it even closer to the surface of the Moon. With this, the spacecraft has completed all of its Moon-bound manoeuvres, and it will now prepare for separation of the lander module -- comprising the lander and rover -- from the propulsion module. "Today's successful firing, needed for a short duration, has put Chandrayaan-3 into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km, as intended. With this, the lunar bound manoeuvres are completed. It's time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module gear up for their separate journeys," ISRO said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Separation of the lander module from the propulsion module is planned for August 17, it said. Following its launch on July 14, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft entered into lunar orbit on August 5, following which orbit reduction manoeuvres were ..

Chandrayaan-3 update: All details about ISRO's Lunar orbit manoeuvre

The landing of Chandrayaan-3 on 23 August will be a huge accomplishment for ISRO and India. If accomplished, the landing will take place close to the difficult terrain of the moon's South Pole

Chandrayaan-3 leaves Earth's orbit, now headed for the moon, says ISRO

Chandrayaan-3 successfully completed its fifth orbit-raising manoeuvre on August 1 and is now headed for the moon for the next phase of the mission

Union Minister shares big update on Chandrayaan-3 landing, details here

Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh shared a major update about the Chandrayaan-3 mission, as the probe successfully completed the fourth orbit-raising manoeuvre on Thursday

Discussions are on for further Moon-landing missions, says ISRO Chairman

The Indian Space Research Organisation is almost ready with XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite), the country's first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions, Chairman Somanath S said on Thursday. He said preparations are underway for the Aditya-L1 mission to study the Sun, adding that discussions are on to create a satellite to study extrasolar planets (exoplanets) as well. "We are also discussing missions to the Moon further for landing," the ISRO chief, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space, said in his inaugural address to the Space Science Technology & AwaReness Training (START) programme 2023, being held virtually. ISRO launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon on July 14. "I am sure that you will find something very substantial through this (Chandrayaan-3) mission as far as science is concerned," he said. "We are also preparing for the mission to understand and study the Sun ...

Isro successfully performs second orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-3

The Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully performed the second orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earth-bound apogee firing) of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. "The spacecraft is now in 41603 km X 226 km orbit", the national space agency headquartered here said on Monday. The next firing is planned for Tuesday between 2 pm and 3 pm. it said. The Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon was launched on July 14.

Chandrayaan-3 to undergo crucial phase of its journey towards Moon

The historic Chandrayaan-3 mission launched on Friday will undergo a crucial 40-day phase as the "onboard thrusters would be fired and taken further away from Earth for an eventful landing on Moon's surface," Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre S Unnikrishnan Nair said. Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, Nair said that the launch vehicle has performed extremely well and the initial conditions required for the spacecraft have been provided "very precisely". On July 14, the Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 on board an LVM3-M4 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre. And 17 minutes after lift-off at 2.35 pm, the satellite was precisely injected into the intended orbit. "Today onwards, the onboard thrusters will be fired and Chandryaan-3 will be taken away from Earth for an eventful landing on Moon's surface on August 23," Nair said. "The vehicle system has performed extremely well. And because of that, whatever the initia

Chandrayaan-3 lifts off: What India's moon missions have achieved so far

July 14, 2023 will always be etched in golden letters as far as India's space sector is concerned. Watch the video to know what India's Chandrayaan missions have achieved so far

Chandrayaan-3 mission: Lift-off may help India soft-land in elite orbit

Isro's Chandrayaan III mission successfully lifted off at 1435 hours on Friday

Soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 planned at 5.47 pm on August 23: Isro chief

India's third moon mission Chandrayaan 3 will attempt the technically challenging soft landing on lunar surface on August 23, ISRO Chairman S Somanath said on Friday. Addressing reporters after the successful launch of the estimated Rs 600 crore mission, Somanath said the craft's infusion into the lunar orbit has been planned from August 1. The soft landing has been planned at 5.47 pm on August 23, more than a month after Chandrayaan 3 took off from the spaceport here piggybacking on the heavylift LVM3-M4 rocket, he added.

Top headlines: Chandrayaan-3 launch, Foxconn's change of heart, and more

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Isro set to launch Chandrayaan 3 on July 14; check spacecraft details

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft comprises a propulsion module (weighing 2,148 kg), a lander (1,723.89 kg) and a rover (26 kg)

Flashback to Chandrayaan-2: What went wrong with previous lunar mission

Chandrayaan-2 lander was launched on July 22, 2019 and was supposed to make a soft landing on the moon on September 7. However, the spacecraft crash-landed on moon's surface due to a software glitch

Ahead of Chandrayaan-3 mission, Sriharikota to witness a unique 'launch'

Just a few hours ahead of India's much-awaited Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 takes off next week, the rocket launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota will witness a unique launch. Not the launch of a rocket but of a book. It may sound strange but the book named 'Prism: The Ancestral Abode of Rainbow', a collection of science articles, will be released at the SDSC-SHAR from where the LVM-III would lift off carrying Chandrayaan-3 to the Moon on July 13. Authored by national award-winning filmmaker-writer Vinod Mankara, 'Prism' is likely the first book to be released from a rocket launchpad anywhere in the world. Mankara is the maker of 'Yanam', a science-Sanskrit documentary on India's historic Mars Orbiter Mission 'Mangalyaan'. A collection of 50 essays in Malayalam, the book comprises articles from various streams of science including space science, astronomy, biology, anthropology, mathematics and so on. ISRO Chairman S Somanath will launch the book by handing

Here are five global space exploration missions to watch out for in 2023

With many bold advances and launches due in 2023, we are entering a new phase akin to the "Golden era" of space launches in the 1960s and '70s

K-pop star among 8 to join Japan tycoon Yusaku Maezawa's moon trip

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa said Friday that K-Pop star T.O.P. will be among the eight people who will join him on a flyby around the moon on a SpaceX spaceship next year. The Japanese tycoon launched plans for the lunar voyage in 2018, buying all the seats on the spaceship. He began taking applications from around the world in March 2021 for what will be his second space journey after his 12-day trip to the International Space Station on the Soyuz Russian spaceship last year. The eight people Maezawa selected for his dearMoon project are T.O.P., who debuted as a lead rapper for the K-Pop group Big Bang; American DJ Steve Aoki; filmmaker Brendan Hall and YouTuber Tim Dodd, also of the United States. The other four are British photographer Karim Illiya, Indian actor Dev Joshi, Czech artist Yemi AD and Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam. American Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were chosen as backups. T.O.P.'s real name is Choi Seung-hyun. The ...

Nasa's uncrewed Orion spacecraft mission breaks Apollo 13's record

The earlier record was set during the Apollo 13 mission at 248,655 miles (400,171 kms) from Earth

China to send 3 astronauts to own space station, eyes manned Moon mission

China will be sending a three-person crew to its space station, which is nearing completion, and also announced on Monday plans for a manned mission to the Moon amid intensifying competition with the US. The Shenzhou-15 crewed spaceship will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on Tuesday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced. The spaceship will take three astronauts -- Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu -- to carry out the spaceflight mission. Fei will be the commander of the mission, Ji Qiming, assistant to the director of the CMSA, told the media. The crew will stay in orbit for about six months, a period in which the construction of the low-orbit space station is expected to be completed. The launch will be carried out with a Long March-2F carrier rocket, which will be filled with propellant soon, Ji said. After entering the orbit, the Shenzhou-15 spaceship will make a fast, automated rendezvous and dock with the front port o