Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India]: People offered special prayers at Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar for the success of India’s moon mission Chandrayaan-3, which is scheduled for its soft-landing on the lunar surface later today.
The entire nation has a prayer on its lips and is eagerly looking forward with bated breath as the suspense builds up after Russia’s Luna-25 mission crashed on Sunday evening.
Prayers are taking place across the country for Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing.
Students also cheered for the Chandrayaan-3 mission in the astronomy lab of Army Goodwill School Hanzik at Budgam.
In Odisha, people gathered and offered special prayers at a mosque in Bhubaneswar for the same.
Chandrayaan-3 is likely to make a historic landing on Wednesday at 6.04 pm, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Monday and said that they will organise a live telecast of the landing process.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is attending the BRICS Summit in South Africa is scheduled to join the live telecast online.
ISRO launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14. A GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle was used for the launch of the spacecraft that was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5 and since then it has been through a series of orbital manoeuvres been lowered closer to the moon’s surface.
The stated objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, rover moving on the moon’s surface, and in-situ scientific experiments.
If successful, India will join the elite club of nations of China, the United States and Russia to achieve this feat, but India will be the only country in the world to land on the lunar south pole.