Countdown begins for India's Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission

The countdown for India's ambitious lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3, has  commenced. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that the 26-hour countdown will initiate at 1.05 pm on July 13. The launch of Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled for 2.35 pm on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Chandrayaan-3 is India's third lunar mission and holds great promise for the nation's space exploration ambitions. Upon successful completion, India will become the fourth country to achieve a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, demonstrating its technological prowess in the field of space research. 

According to ISRO Chairman S Somanath, while Chandrayaan-2 had a success-based design, Chandrayaan-3 has a failure-based one.“We expanded the area of landing from 500m x 500m to four km by 2.5 km. It can land anywhere, so it doesn’t limit you to target a specific point. It will target a specific point only in nominal conditions. So, if the performance is poor, it can land anywhere within that area,” Somanath said.