The countdown to ISRO's third Moon mission has begun

 Voice 9, New Delhi Bureau: The countdown to ISRO's third Moon mission has begun; scientists hope for a 'historic' soft landing. 

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch the Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission, the successor of Chandrayaan-2, which crashed-landed in September 2019 due to a software malfunction. It is scheduled to launch at 2:30 p.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Srihari Kota. Chandrayaan-3 has a lander, a rover, and a propulsion module. It weighs around 3,900 kilos.

 India hopes to demonstrate its capacity to safely land on and study the lunar surface with Chandrayaan-3. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover combination until they reach a 100-kilometer lunar orbit.

  “Such a long journey! From humble beginnings in 1963 to an emerging space power in 2023 🚀 Chandrayaan3 May the force be with you.” Tweets Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy tweets, “My best wishes to the team at @isro on the scheduled launch of Chandrayaan-3 from Srihari Kota in our very own #AndhraPradesh today.”