India set to launch historic moon mission

India is preparing to launch its third Moon mission, with the aim of being the first to land near the Moon's little-explored South Pole.

The Chandrayaan-3 craft with an orbiter, lander and a rover is due to set off at 14:35 local time today(14) from Sriharikota space centre.

The space officials added that the craft is set to reach the moon on 23-24 August.

If this becomes successful, India would be named as the fourth country to achieve a soft-landing on the moon, following the US, the former Soviet Union and China.

The third in India's programme of lunar exploration, Chandrayaan-3 is expected to build on the success of its earlier Moon missions.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission, which included an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, was launched in July 2019 but was only partially successful. Its orbiter is still orbiting and studying the Moon, but the lander rover failed to achieve a gentle landing and crashed during touchdown. Mylswamy Annadurai, project director of Chandrayaan claimed that it was due to "a last-minute glitch in the braking system."

Image courtesy - BBC