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India’s space agency on Monday released images its spacecraft took of the far side of the moon as it headed for an attempted landing on the lunar south pole, just days after the failure of a Russian lander.
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft had been in a race with Russia to be the first to land on the lunar south pole, a region whose shadowed craters are thought to contain water ice that could support a future moon settlement.
As news of the failure of Russia’s Luna-25 mission broke on Sunday, ISRO said that Chandrayaan-3 was on course to land on Aug. 23.
All systems on the spacecraft are working “perfectly” and no contingencies are anticipated on the landing day, the space agency said on Monday.
The mission — Chandrayaan means “moon vehicle” in Hindi and Sanskrit — is India’s second attempt to land on the south pole of the moon. In 2019, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 mission successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander crashed.
Rough terrain makes a south pole landing difficult, but making a first landing would be historic. The region’s water ice could supply fuel, oxygen and drinking water for future missions.
Images released on Monday showed craters on the moon’s surface captured by the ISRO craft’s Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera, which is designed to help find a safe landing location for the spacecraft.
India’s moon mission blasted off on July 14, and the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 separated from the propulsion module last week.
For India, a successful moon landing would mark its emergence as a space power as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government looks to spur investment in private space launches and related satellite-based businesses.
“If Chandrayaan-3 succeeds, it will boost India’s space agency’s reputation worldwide. It will show that India is becoming a key player in space exploration,” said Manish Purohit, a former ISRO scientist.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
