By India’s space agency has just shared some fascinating images of the moon captured by its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. This spacecraft is getting closer to the moon’s southern pole, an area that hasn’t been explored much before. Interestingly, Russia is also planning to land in this same region soon.
The video was taken right after the spacecraft’s lander separated from the propulsion module. It gave us a close-up look at the moon’s craters as it spun around. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed that the Lander Module is in good health and successfully adjusted its orbit.
The Indian space agency launched this mission on July 14th from their main spaceport in Andhra Pradesh. The lander is scheduled to make its touchdown attempt on August 23rd.
Russia, on the other hand, launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in almost 50 years on August 11th. They’re taking a more direct path to reach the moon’s south pole, where scientists believe there’s water ice that could be incredibly useful for future moon missions or even a lunar colony. Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft is also getting ready for its landing attempt.
The end of August is going to be a big deal for space exploration. India and Russia are both aiming to make soft landings on the moon’s South Pole. This is a pretty unique endeavor because most lunar missions from the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China have landed on other parts of the moon. India had a tough time in 2019 when they tried this before, losing contact with their lander at the last moment. But now, they’re giving it another shot with Chandrayaan-3.
Russia’s Luna-25, although launched later, is also moving swiftly towards its landing attempt, a few days ahead of Chandrayaan-3. This is an exciting time for space exploration and will likely have important implications for space policies and international cooperation.
