Chandrayaan 3: ISRO's Historic Moon Mission Successfully Takes Off! Here Are 10 Facts You Need To Know

India successfully launched the heavy lift 3,897.89 kg rocket-LVM3 Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into orbit for its 42-day journey to the moon. The LVM3 broke free from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) and began ascending towards the skies, rising the happiness on every proud Indian. The satellite will take nearly 42 days to reach the moon. 

Four years after the failed attempt of Chandrayaan-2, a successful soft landing will make India the fourth country, after US, Russia, and China to achieve the feat. The ISRO scientists have improved the lander’s design after a series of tests. 

More than 10,000 people from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka arrived at Sriharikota in early morning to watch D-day unfold. They were allowed to witness the launch from the dedicated space gallery set up by ISRO adjacent to the main entrance of the space center. 

Read: What is the budget of Chandrayaan 3? 

Here are some of the facts regarding India’s moon mission:

1.    The objective of Chandrayaan-3 mission is to demonstrate a soft landing on the lunar surface, and roving on the lunar terrain, conduct in-situ scientific experiments, and develop and demonstrate new technologies required for interplanetary missions.

2.    During the 42 days period, the LVM3 rocket will carry its 3895-kg payload using three different rocket power stages with a maximum thrust of 10.242 km/sec (speed over 36000 km/hr) being provided by the indigenous cryogenic C-25 engine fired on the rocket in the final phase. 

3.    Chandrayaan is also known as the LVM3-M4 mission because it is the fourth operational mission of LVM3. 

4.    Chandrayaan-3 is built on a budget of just under Rs 615 crore or $75 million.

5.    Chandrayaan-3 has 3.84 lakh km distances to cover on its own. The Lander carried by the spacecraft is expected to make a soft landing on the moon on August 23 or August 24. 

6.    The lunar orbit insertion will occur in an elliptical orbit whose size is 170 x 36,500 square kilometres. After this, Chandrayaan-3 will be separated from the launch vehicle. The propulsion module will carry the lander module to a lunar circular orbit whose size is 100 x 100 square kilometre.