Chandrayaan-3 shares newest Moon photos taken by lander, just 70 km away from surface

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday shared a video of images of the moon captured by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) from an altitude of about 70 km.  

Approximately 30 hours before the planned landing on August 23, ISRO said the Chandrayaan-3 is right on schedule. “Systems are undergoing regular checks, smooth sailing is continuing,” the space agency wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

The images were captured on Saturday by Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) from an altitude of about 70 km. The camera helps the lander module determine its position by matching them against an onboard moon reference map, ISRO said. 

Sharing the pics, ISRO wrote: “LPDC images assist the Lander Module in determining its position (latitude and longitude) by matching them against an onboard moon reference map.” 

Earlier, the ISRO shared images of the far side of the Moon showing some of its prominent craters. The lunar south pole is the side that faces away from the Earth and is sometimes also called "the dark side of the Moon". The area is known to have rugged terrain and researchers in the past have reported the presence of water ice on this side. 

Landing schedule 

ISRO has shared that the historic touchdown on the Moon’s southern extremity is scheduled for 6.04 pm on August 23. 

The space agency will be showing the landing operations live from 5.27 pm on Wednesday. It can be viewed on ISRO's website (https://isro.gov.in), ISRO's official YouTube channel  

(https://youtube.com/watch?v=DLA_64yz8Ss), and ISRO's official Facebook channel (https://facebook.com/ISRO).

Planned landing procedure 

On August 23, Chandrayaan 3’s final 18 minutes are expected to be crucial in its total journey, where there will be a sequence of meticulously orchestrated manoeuvres. 

The Chandrayaan-3 lander is expected to transfer its high-speed horizontal position to a vertical one in an attempt to make a soft landing on the Moon. The technical manoeuvre is expected to help the spacecraft in a gentle descent onto the Moon’s surface. 

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As it orbits the Moon, the Vikram Lander finds itself 745.5 km away from the chosen landing spot, floating about 30 km above the Moon's surface at a speed of 1.6 kilometers per second. 

"The lander will try to land on the Moon's surface from a height of 30 km on August 23, and its velocity at that time will be 1.68 km/sec. Our focus will be on reducing that speed because Moon's gravitational force will also play its part. If we don't control that speed, there will be chances of crash landing. If any health parameter (of the lander module) is found abnormal on August 23, then we will postpone the landing to August 27," Nilesh Desai, Director of Space Applications Centre-ISRO, Ahmedabad, said. 

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Also read: Chandrayaan-3 touchdown: What are Vikram Lander and rover expected to do after soft landing on Aug 23

Also read: 'Welcome, buddy': Chandrayaan-3 establishes two-way communication with Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, announces ISRO

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