Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing: India eagerly awaits soft landing of Vikram Lander on Wednesday

Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing: In the history of any country, there are moments that are remembered for generations, change the course of its history, and define the character of that nation. The scheduled landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the moon on Wednesday (August 23, 2023) can be one of those moments for India. 

If Chandrayaan-3's Vikram Lander with Pragyaan rover attached to it makes a smooth landing at its scheduled time of 16:04 IST on Wednesday, the country will join the elite club of the USA, Russia, and China, which have landed their satellites on the only natural satellite of the Earth.

What can race India ahead of this pack is that it can become the only nation in the world to land its satellite on the south pole of the moon.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
The mission is on schedule.
Systems are undergoing regular checks.
Smooth sailing is continuing.

The Mission Operations Complex (MOX) is buzzed with energy & excitement!

The live telecast of the landing operations at MOX/ISTRAC begins at 17:20 Hrs. IST… pic.twitter.com/Ucfg9HAvrY

— ISRO (@isro) August 22, 2023

If that happens, the momentous glory of Chandrayaan-3 landing will be counted among the same rank of achievements for the country as India launching its first sounding rocket from Thumba, Kerala (1963), founding the Indian Space Research Organisation (1969), starting the Green Revolution (1967–78), joining the nuclear club (1974), sending Rakesh Sharma into space (1984), triggering economic reforms (1991), passing the Right to Information Act (2005), eradicating polio (2013), and sending a satellite into the Mars orbit (2014).

.... and
The moon as captured by the
Lander Imager Camera 4
on August 20, 2023.#Chandrayaan_3 #Ch3 pic.twitter.com/yPejjLdOSS

— ISRO (@isro) August 22, 2023

In between them, there were countless moments that made every Indian hold their head high and fill their chest with pride. 

The country is keenly waiting to see history in the making. ISRO, the organisation behind Mission Chandayaan-3, is keeping the excitement of space enthusiasts high by posting the latest updates of its moon mission on the X account. 

The space organisation tweeted on Tuesday (August 22): "The mission is on on schedule; systems are undergoing regular checks; and smooth sailing is continuing."

In another tweet, ISRO posted a video of Chandrayaan-3 hovering over the surface of the Moon, which in the video appears to be just a few hands distance from Chandrayaan-3.

This distance is just an illusion as Chandrayaan-3 is still at quite a distance from the moon, but on Wednesday, this illusion can turn into reality if Vikram Lander lands on the moon.

India's Earlier Moon Missions

This is India's third moon mission so far. It launched its first moon mission in 2008, while its second mission in 2019 was about to acheive the success but it crashed on landing.

Moon Landing: When and Where to Watch

Live landing actions will be available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV.