• Source:ANI
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As Chandrayaan-3, the third mission in India's lunar exploration series, is all set to touch down on the moon on August 23, the anticipation over its soft landing on the south pole building up after the failure of the Russian lander. Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft had been in a race with Russia to be the first to land on the south pole, a region whose shadowed craters are thought to contain water ice that could support a future moon settlement. 

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On Sunday, India's lunar mission successfully reduced the orbit of its Lander Module moving closer to the moon. The Lander Module, which comprises the lander 'Vikram' and rover 'Pragyan' is scheduled to make a soft landing on the south pole on Wednesday. Chandrayaan-3 began its journey on July 14 this year and successfully entered lunar orbit on August 5.

As Chandrayaan-3 inches closer to Moon, the Space strategist PK Ghosh highlighted the biggest challenges for its landing. The expert said Chandrayaan 3 on the lunar surface is to get the spacecraft from a horizontal to a vertical position.

"One of the biggest things is that it has got to get the spacecraft from a horizontal position to a vertical position. That isn't easy. All these aspects have to be looked into," Ghosh told ANI.

On Monday, the ISRO released several images of Vikram's lander determining the landing site. Amid speculation of Chandrayaan-3's safe landing on the Moon, former director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and in charge of the previous lunar mission 'Chandrayaan-2', K Sivan said this mission will be a "grand success".

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.

(With Inputs From Agencies)