By Jackie Wattles and Manveena Suri, CNN
India has landed its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the moon, the fourth country to accomplish such a feat.
The project can cement India’s prestige as a global superpower in space. Previously, the United States, China and the former Soviet Union had made comfortable landings on the lunar surface.
The Chandrayaan-3 landing site is also closer to the moon’s south pole than any other domain craft in history. The South Pole region is considered a domain of key clinical and strategic interest for domain nations, as scientists host the domain. water ice deposits.
The water, frozen in shaded craters, could easily be converted into rocket fuel or even drinking water for long-duration manned missions.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recently in South Africa for the BRICS summit, watched the landing and shared live-streamed remarks.
“On this happy occasion. . . I would like to be together with all the peoples of the world,” he said. “This good fortune belongs to all mankind, and it will be for the lunar missions of other countries in the future. “
India’s attempt to land its spacecraft near the lunar south pole comes just days after the country’s attempt to do the same failed. Russia’s Luna 25 spacecraft crashed into the moon on Aug. 19 after engine failures, completing the country’s first attempt to land on the moon in 47 years. .
As Chandrayaan-3 approached the moon, its cameras captured photographs, adding one taken on Aug. 20 that India’s space company shared Tuesday. The symbol offers a close-up of the moon’s gray, dusty terrain.
India’s lunar lander is made up of three parts: a lander, a rover and a propulsion module, which provided the spacecraft with all the thrust needed to traverse the 384,400-kilometer (238,855-mile) void between the moon and Earth.
The lander, named Vikram, carried out the precision maneuvers needed to make a comfortable landing on the lunar surface after being ejected from the propulsion module. Inside is Pragyan, a small six-wheeled rover that will deploy from the lander rolling over a ramp.
Vikram used his onboard thrusters to conscientiously orient himself as he approached the lunar surface, and slowly slowed his engines to land shortly after 6 p. m. IST (8:30 a. m. ET) to applause from the project room.
The lander, which weighs about 1,700 kilograms (3,748 pounds), and the 26-kilogram (57. 3-pound) rover are packed with clinical instruments, capable of capturing data to help researchers analyze the lunar surface and provide new information about its composition. .
Dr. Angela Marusiak, assistant professor of studies at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, said she is excited that the lunar lander will come with a seismometer that will detect earthquakes inside the Moon.
Studying how the moon’s inner layers move may be a key piece of information for long-term efforts on the lunar surface, Marusiak said.
“You have to make sure that any possible seismic activity doesn’t endanger any astronauts,” Marusiak said. “Or, if we built structures on the moon, they would be caused by seismic activity. “
The lander and rover are expected to operate for about two weeks on the surface of the Moon. The propulsion module will be in orbit, serving as a relay point to send knowledge back to Earth.
Working alongside allies such as the United States and France, India is part of a second wave of emerging space powers. The country’s space program has one of the most active in the world in the development of exploratory space technologies.
Chandrayaan-3 has been a source of national pride and widespread interest across India. Crowds gathered at the launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. On Wednesday, more than 8 million people tuned in to watch the live broadcast. of the landing.
India’s project has taken on even greater importance since Russia’s failed attempt to land on the moon 25. With the good fortune of Chandrayaan-3, India is the second country to land a spacecraft on the Moon in the twenty-first century, after China, which landed three modules on the Moon. The lunar surface since 2013, adding the first to land on the far side of the Moon. (The last U. S. lunar lander, the manned Apollo 17 project, landed in 1972. )
More than a dozen countries plan to take projects to the moon in the coming years, adding a project submitted through the Japanese space company, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, scheduled to take off later this month. The United States also plans to send 3 announced moon landings starting this year, while NASA continues to work on its Artemis III project, which could take astronauts back to the moon starting in 2025.
However, landing on the Moon remains a complicated task. India’s last attempt to land on the moon, 2019’s Chandrayaan-2 mission, failed. And recently two advertising spacecraft crashed into the lunar surface: one from Israel in 2019 and the other from Japan in April.
“There’s no question that landing on the moon is a real challenge,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Sunday. “But the Moon offers a wonderful clinical reward, which is why we’ve noticed so many recent attempts to scale on the Moon. “surface again. We take a look forward to everything that will be reported to us in the future, adding from India’s Chandraayan-3 mission.
On Wednesday, Nelson shared a congratulatory note on social media, saying, “Congratulations to #Inde for being the fourth country to effectively land a spacecraft on the Moon. We are excited to be your spouse on this mission!
India is also a signatory to the U. S. Artemis Agreement, a document that outlines proposed conduct regulations for long-term lunar exploration. Russia and China have signed the agreements.
El-CNN-Wire™
CNN’s Irene Nasser contributed to this story.
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