Wishing Indians ‘good luck’, Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams has said she will cheer for India as Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander module attempts a touchdown on the moon’s surface on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
“I am super excited for Chandrayaan-3 on the 23rd of August. Good luck, we are cheering for you,” the veteran NASA astronaut said in a video message shared by National Geographic India.<\/p>\n
Williams, who has spent about 322 days in space in her two shuttle missions, said that landing on the moon will provide valuable insights on lunar composition and history.<\/p>\n
National Geographic India will telecast a live coverage of the event, which will also feature inputs from space industry experts as well as astronauts like Williams and Rakesh Sharma on space exploration.<\/p>\n
“We salute the brave dreamers of the Indian Space Research Organisation. Watch India’s historic touchdown, Chandrayaan 3 Live #countdowntohistory on 23 August at 4 pm on National Geographic,” the channel wrote on platform X.<\/p>\n
According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the lander will begin its moon landing descent at 5.45 pm today, and the touch down to happen at about 6.05 p.m.<\/p>\n
The soft landing is a tricky issue as it involves a series of complex manoeuvres consisting of rough and fine braking. ISRO said the powered descent of the lander will happen from an altitude of 25 km.<\/p>\n
The Chandrayaan-3 was put into orbit on July 14 in a copybook style by India’s heavy lift rocket LVM3. The spacecraft completed orbiting around the earth and headed towards the moon on August 1.<\/p>\n
The success of the mission is of prime importance to India, which will become the fourth country to master the soft-landing technology on moon surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.<\/p>\n
In addition, it will also become the first country to reach the unexplored larger south pole of the Moon.<\/p>\n