After several weeks in orbit and 20 breathtaking minutes braking, the Indian Chandrayaan-3 mission landed on the visible side of the Moon, not far from the South Pole! A historic event in the country, and a first noticed, while many failures have marred the last attempts.
Indian Prime Minister praises a success that belongs to all “.
The world is watching you
Despite the excitement and the long preparation for the event, the atmosphere at the Bengaluru control center was clearly unbreathable on Wednesday August 23, as the Chandrayaan-3 lander started its braking and left lunar orbit at 2 p.m. 15 (Paris time). The attempt to land was an adventure that involved the entire Indian nation. Schools, for example, were invited to put their program on hold until the feet of the machine touched the lunar ground. National television, YouTube (more than 8 million live viewers), the world had its eyes riveted on the central indicators.
Successful long braking
Initially, Chandrayaan used its propulsion at full power to brake as much as possible and have a very low horizontal speed. When the ground no longer scrolled under the lander’s cameras, the latter was able to manage its descent taking into account its fuel reserves.
He took the time to come to a complete stop twice. During these “stops”, the on-board computer selected the most interesting trajectory to aim for the flattest possible ground, far from dangerous craters or rocks. And at 2:32 and 55 seconds (Paris time), it was a veritable round of applause that took over the data: Chandrayaan-3 landed on the surface and continued to transmit. A flawless success and a successful revenge on the bitter failure of September 2019, when the lander of the Chandrayaan-2 mission crashed on the surface.
It’s time for congratulations… and the rover
India was not mistaken about the scope of the event. After a speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (the latter is in South Africa at the BRICS summit), who wished to share this success with all of humanity, the various teams that worked on the lander were all warmly congratulated. One could read on their faces an undisguised pride and joy to have contributed to such an adventure.
On the Moon, the mood was much calmer: the lander exchanged data and instructions with the ground, transmitting several (somewhat) more resolved images of its descent and landing site. Teams have apparently deployed (it’s not official yet) the little Pragyan rover on the surface.
Until then, it’s time to celebrate. India has become the fourth nation after the USSR, the United States and China to land an intact vehicle on the Moon. Which is not the case for everyone!
Source : SpaceNews
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