India is about to make a bold attempt to land a module on the moon.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is India’s first lunar landing attempt since a failed effort in 2019 and comes just a few days after Russia failed in its own attempt to successfully put a lander on the lunar surface.
India’s Vikram landing module is expected to reach the lunar surface on Wednesday morning ET, and the event will be live-streamed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Read on for full details on how to watch.
If India succeeds, it will become only the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the moon, following in the footsteps of the U.S., China, and the former Soviet Union. It will also become the first nation to successfully land near the moon’s South Pole, an area that’s believed to hold water ice, an important resource that could aid future crewed missions to the moon. The region also holds promise for “unprecedented deep space scientific discoveries that could help us learn about our place in the universe,” according to NASA.
Once safely set down, Vikram will deploy a small rover called Pragyan that will use an array of scientific instruments to explore its surroundings.
In an interview with BBC Radio on Tuesday, Pallava Bagla, science editor for India’s NDTV network, described the atmosphere in his country as “electric,” adding that “1.4 billion Indians are waiting with bated breath to see a successful soft landing of the Vikram lander.”
How to watch
Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram landing module is scheduled to arrive on the lunar surface on Wednesday, August 23, at 8:34 a.m. ET (6:04 p.m. local time).
The landing attempt will be live-streamed by ISRO and you can watch events unfold using the player embedded at the top of this page, or by visiting ISRO’s YouTube channel, which will carry the same footage. The live stream will begin at 7:50 a.m. ET.
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