Excitement mounts as India attempts second moon landing: ‘Thanks for the ride’
- The lander part of the Chandrayaan-3 has successfully separated from the propulsion module six days ahead of schedule
- The nation has a comparatively low-budget aerospace programme, but is rapidly closing in on the milestones set by global space powers
India’s latest space mission completed a key step in the country’s second attempt at a lunar landing, with its moon module separating from its propulsion section on Thursday.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed that the lander module of the Chandrayaan-3, which means Mooncraft in Sanskrit, had “successfully separated” from the propulsion module six days ahead of a planned landing slated for August 23.
“Thanks for the ride, mate!” ISRO said in a post on the social media platform X.
ISRO said the propulsion module now “continues its journey in the current orbit for months/years” as part of efforts to study exoplanets, or planets outside Earth’s solar system.
Instruments on board will “perform spectroscopic study of the Earth’s atmosphere and measure the variations in polarisation from the clouds on Earth – to accumulate signatures of Exoplanets that would qualify for our habitability!”
