Page 6 - Moon

Chandrayaan-3: PM to virtually witness attempted lunar landing in S Africa

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Chandrayaan-3 is all set to create history by landing on the uncharted south pole of the moon

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India set for first south pole Moon landing after Russia's Luna-25 crashes

Vikram, Chandrayaan-3's lander, is trending on X, formally known as Twitter, as billionaire industrialists and Bollywood actors eagerly await the historic moment

Explainer: Why are space agencies racing to the moon's south pole?

Here's what's known about the presence of frozen water on the moon - and why space agencies and private companies see it as a key to a moon colony, lunar mining and potential missions to Mars

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

'Welcome, buddy!': Chandrayaan-2 orbiter connects with Chandrayaan-3 lander

ISRO on Monday said a two-way communication between the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and Chandrayaan-3's Lunar Module has been established. "Welcome, buddy!' Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM. Two-way communication between the two is established. MOX has now more routes to reach the LM," the national space agency said in a post on 'X'. ISRO said on Sunday the lander module of Chandrayaan-3, the third lunar mission of India, is expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon around 6.04 pm on August 23. The MOX (Mission Operations Complex) is located at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here. ISRO also said, in an update, that the live telecast of the landing event will begin at 5.20 pm on August 23. The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprising orbiter, lander and rover was launched in 2019. The lander with a rover in its belly crashed into the Moon's surface, failing in its mission to achieve a soft-landing. ISRO said in 2019 that due to the precise launch and orbi

Moon landing anticipation builds for Chandyayaan-3 after Russia's crash

All systems on the spacecraft are working "perfectly" and no contingencies are anticipated on the landing day, the Isro said on Monday

Here's how Isro's Chandrayaan-3 can script history after crash of Luna-25

If Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander lands on the South Pole of the Moon on August 23, Isro will become the first space agency to do so

Chandrayaan-3: Images of Lunar far side area captured by camera released

The ISRO on Monday released images of Lunar far side area captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC). 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. According to the space agency, to achieve the mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3, several advanced technologies are present in the Lander such as LHDAC. Chandrayaan-3, launched on July 14, is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. The ISRO said on Sunday that the Lander Module with rover in its belly is expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon around 6.04 PM on August 23.

Russian space agency says its Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the moon

Russia's robot lander the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after it had spun into uncontrolled orbit, the country's space agency Roscosmos reported on Sunday. The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon, read a statement from the agency. Roscosmos said it lost contact with the spacecraft on Saturday after it ran into trouble while preparing for its pre-landing orbit after reporting an abnormal situation that its specialists were analysing. During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the maneuver to be performed with the specified parameters, Roscosmos said in a Telegram post. The spacecraft was scheduled to land on the south pole of the moon on Monday, racing to land on Earth's satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft. The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed polar craters may

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Race to the moon: Russia out of contest as Chandrayaan 3 sets up lunar date

Russia has bowed out of the race to the moon with India after its robot lander crashed on the lunar surface, setting Chandrayaan-3 on an easier course while ISRO scientists achieved yet another successful maneouver to take the spacecraft closer to the moon in its soft-landing attempt on August 23. ISRO on Sunday said it has successfully reduced the orbit of Chandrayaan-3 mission's Lander Module (LM), and it is now expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon at 6.04 PM on Wednesday. This came even as Russian lander Luna-25 crashed into the moon after going into uncontrolled orbit. "The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon," Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement. Roscosmos said it lost contact with the spacecraft on Saturday after it ran into trouble while preparing for its pre-landing orbit after reporting an "abnormal situation" that its specialists were analysing. The Luna-25 was

Isro reduces Chandrayaan-3 module orbit, to land at 18:04 hrs on Aug 23

ISRO on Sunday said it has successfully reduced the orbit of Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander module, and it is now expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon at 1804 hours on August 23. The space agency said the lander module would undergo internal checks ahead of the planned soft landing. The lander module (LM), comprising the lander Vikram' and rover Pragyan', is expected to touch down on the lunar surface on Wednesday, August 23 at 18.04 hours, ISRO said. Earlier ISRO had said that the touchdown would take place at at 5.47 pm on August 23. Now, it has been moved by 17 minutes. The second and final deboosting (slowing down) operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km. The module would undergo internal checks and await the sunrise at the designated landing site. The powered descent is expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 hrs IST, ISRO said in a post on 'X' (formerly Twitter) in the early hours of Sunday. According to ISRO, India's pursui

Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft suffers glitch in pre-landing manoeuvre

Russia reported an abnormal situation Saturday on its moon-bound Luna-25 spacecraft, which launched earlier this month. The country's space agency, Roscosmos, said the spacecraft ran into unspecified trouble while trying to enter a pre-landing orbit, and that its specialists were analyzing the situation. During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the maneuver to be performed with the specified parameters, Roscosmos said in a Telegram post. Roscosmos did not specify whether the incident will prevent Luna-25 from making a landing. The spacecraft is scheduled to land on the south pole of the moon on Monday, racing to land on Earth's satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft. The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed polar craters may contain water. The frozen water in the rocks could be transformed by future explorers into air and rocket fuel. Also on Saturday, the Rus

Chandrayaan-3: Isro reduces lander module orbit bringing it closer to Moon

The ISRO on Sunday said it successfully reduced the orbit of the Chandrayaan-3 mission's Lander Module (LM), further bringing it nearer to the moon. The national space agency also said that the LM would now undergo internal checks. The LM, comprising the lander Vikram' and rover Pragyan', is expected to touch down on the lunar surface on August 23 evening, it said. The second and final deboosting (slowing down) operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km. The module would undergo internal checks and await the sun-rise at the designated landing site. The powered descent is expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 Hrs IST, ISRO said in a post on 'X' (formerly Twitter) on Sunday. The LM of Chandrayaan-3 successfully separated from the Propulsion Module on Thursday, 35 days after the mission was launched on July 14. ISRO sources earlier said, that after the separation, the lander is expected to undergo "deboost" (the process of slowing down) operation

Chandrayaan-3: Isro's Lander Module health normal, gets closer to Moon

ISRO on Friday said that Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module has successfully undergone a deboosting (slowing down) operation taking it closer to the Moon, and that its health is normal. The Lander Module comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), will undergo the second deboosting operation on August 20, to be lowered to an orbit that takes it much closer to the Moon's surface. The soft landing on the Lunar south pole is scheduled on August 23. " The Lander Module (LM) health is normal. LM successfully underwent a deboosting operation that reduced its orbit to 113 km x 157 km. The second deboosting operation is scheduled for August 20, 2023, around 0200 Hrs. IST," ISRO said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). The Lander Module of Chandrayaan-3 had successfully separated from the Propulsion Module on Thursday, 35 days after the satellite was launched on July 14.

Isro releases visuals of Moon captured by Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's Lander

ISRO on Friday released a set of visuals of the Moon captured by cameras positioned on the Lander Module of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. The images, captured after the separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module of the spacecraft on Thursday, showed the craters on the Moon's surface that were marked on the photographs released by ISRO as 'Fabry', 'Giordano Bruno' and 'Harkhebi J'. The country's space agency shared on X (formerly Twitter) the images captured by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) on August 15, and visuals from the Lander Imager (LI) Camera-1 on August 17 -- just after the separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module. The Lander Module comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan) will on Friday be lowered to an orbit that takes it closer to the Moon's surface for the soft landing on the Lunar south pole on August 23.

India shoots for the Moon with Chandrayaan-3: 10 facts you must know

Here are ten interesting facts you didn't know about ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 mission, which took off successfully on July 14

Chandrayaan-3: Vikram Lander successfully separates from propulsion module

Isro said that the propulsion module will continue its journey in the current orbit for months/years. It will perform spectroscopic study of the Earth's atmosphere

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