chandrayaanwhich means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in sriharikotain the southern state of Andhra Pradeshthis Friday, in what means India’s first mission to the moon landing.
Crowds gathered at the space center to witness the historic launch and more than a million people followed it across Youtube.
It is India’s second attempt to carry out a moon landing, after its previous effort with the Chandrayaan-2 in 2019.
Meanwhile, its first lunar probe, the Chandrayaan-1orbited the Moon and then deliberately crash-landed on the lunar surface in 2008.
Chandrayaan-3developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), consists of a lunar lander, a propulsion module and a rover.
Its objective is to arrive on the lunar surface on August 23, collect data and carry out a series of scientific experiments to better understand the composition of the Moon.
Only three other countries have accomplished the complicated feat of landing a spacecraft on the lunar surface: United States, Russia and China.
Indian engineers have been working on the launch for years. Your goal is that Chandrayaan-3 reach the difficult terrain of the unexplored South Pole of the Moon.
The first Indian lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1discovered water molecules on the surface of the Moon. Eleven years later, the Chandrayaan-2 He successfully entered lunar orbit, but his vehicle crashed on the surface. She was also to explore the South Pole of the Moon.
At that time, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra ModiHe praised the mission’s engineers despite the failure and vowed to continue working on India’s space program and ambitions.
Just before this Friday’s launch, Modi he said that day “will always be etched in letters of gold when it comes to the Indian space sector. This remarkable mission will carry the hopes and dreams of our nation.”
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The mission to the Moon, a milestone after decades of work by India
the space program India it dates back more than six decades, when it was a newly independent republic and a deeply poor country reeling from a bloody partition.
When it launched its first rocket into space in 1963, the country was not living up to the ambitions of United States and the Soviet Unionwho were far ahead in the space race.
Today, India is the world’s most populous nation and its fifth largest economy. It has a thriving young population and is home to a growing center of innovation and technology. And India’s space ambitions have caught up under the tenure of Modi.
For the leader, who came to power in 2014 with a rhetoric of nationalism and greatness for the future, India’s space program is a symbol of the country’s growing prominence on the world stage.
In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to reach Marswhen he put the probe mangalyaan in orbit around the red planet for $74 million, less than the $100 Hollywood spent to make the space thriller “Gravity.”
Source: Ambito
