Chandrayaan 3: Expanded landing area, enhanced upgrades to ensure safer, successful mission, says former ISRO scientist

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 22 (ANI): Mylswamy Annadurai, a renowned former ISRO scientist and recipient of the Padma Shri award revealed significant upgrades to the upcoming Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Annadurai said that the spacecraft's landing zone has been expanded to a broader area measuring 4.5 km by 2.5 km. The primary focus of the mission remains to ensure a safe and successful landing, with enhanced fuel requirements and an improved power source compared to its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2.
“The Chandrayaan 3 has a wider area of 4.5 km*2.5 km. The priority is a safe landing. Compared to Chandrayaan 2, the required fuel has also been enhanced. The power source has also been enhanced,” he said.
Earlier, Raghunandan, the Director of the Planetary Society of India, expressed the significance of this mission and explains how Chandrayaan-3 will land on the Moon.
He highlighted that India has embarked on one of its most crucial space missions, emphasizing the rarity of lunar landing attempts.
Raghunandan reminisced about the country's previous endeavors, citing Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Chandrayaan-2 in 2019, as stepping stones towards the imminent Chandrayaan-3 mission.
He further delved into the intricate landing procedure, shedding light on the meticulous planning and execution that this mission demands.
Meanwhile, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, school students have taken up the mantle of awareness as they actively participate in programs centered around Chandrayaan-3.
As India readies itself to undertake the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the nation's scientific community, students, and space enthusiasts alike eagerly await another stride in India's space exploration journey.
After Russia's Luna-25 mission failed, all eyes will be on India as its Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23, 2023 (Wednesday), around 1804 IST.
In its latest update on Chandrayaan-3 soft landing, ISRO meanwhile said the mission is on schedule and systems are undergoing regular checks.
The live telecast of the landing operations will begin at 5:20 PM IST on Wednesday. Live actions of landing will be available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV from 5:27 PM IST on Aug 23, 2023.
Along with the mission’s update, ISRO also released images of the moon captured by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) from an altitude of about 70 km. These images assist the lander module in determining its position (latitude and longitude) by matching them against an onboard moon reference map.
Notably, the 'Vikram' lander module of the spacecraft successfully separated from the propulsion module on Thursday, and subsequently underwent crucial deboosting manoeuvres and descended to a slightly lower orbit. The Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander is named after Vikram Sarabhai (1919–1971), who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programme.
A GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle was used for the launch of the spacecraft that was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5 and since then it has been through a series of orbital manoeuvres been lowered closer to the moon’s surface.
It has been a month and eight days since the Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission on July 14. The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.
The stated objectives of Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar mission, are safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, rover moving on the moon's surface, and in-situ scientific experiments.
India will be the fourth country in the world to achieve this feat after the United States, Russia, and China, but India will be the only country in the world to land on the lunar south pole. (ANI)