Chandrayaan-3 Mission Countdown Begins; Team Of Scientists Visit Tirupati Temple To Offer Prayers

The 26-hour countdown for the launch of Chandrayaan 3, India’s third lunar exploration mission, has commenced from 1:05 pm today. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the Chandrayaan-3 by LVM3 rocket at 2:35 pm tomorrow from the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. 

The ISRO has already undertaken a 24-hour 'launch rehearsal' simulating the entire launch preparation and process for the mission. The soft landing on moon's surface is planned for late August. The third mission follows the failure of the second mission to achieve the desired soft landing on the moon surface in 2019, leaving the ISRO team dejected. Images of an emotional then ISRO chief K Sivan being consoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone viral. 

A team of scientists from the ISRO visited the Sri Venkateswara temple at nearby Tirumala on Thursday morning in the run-up to launch. "India is all set to launch its 3rd moon mission ‘Chandrayaan-3’ tomorrow at 2:35 PM. I pray that everything goes well and it lands on the moon on August 23 onwards any day," S Somanath said after offering prayers at the temple.

Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said that the launch of Chandrayaan -3 will raise the level of India's international collaborations including that between India and the United States. He furher added, "I have the confidence to say that the launch of Chandrayaan-3 is going to raise the level of India's international collaborations including that between India and the US," MoS Jitendra Singh said. 

A success would make India only the fourth country to achieve the feat after the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.