India has launched its latest attempt at a historic moon landing on 14th July. Dubbed Chandrayaan-3, the spacecraft includes the lander Vikram (named after the father of the Indian space program Vikram Sarabhai) and the rover Pragyan (“wisdom” in Sanskrit). If the mission is successful, the Chandrayaan-3 will become the world’s first mission to soft-land near the lunar south pole. Chandrayaan-2, India’s first lunar landing mission, ended in heartbreak in 2019, when that mission’s lander crashed during its final descent phase. If successful, the new mission will make India the fourth country in history to achieve a lunar landing, following the U.S., the former Soviet Union and China.
India Aims for the Moon with Launch of Chandrayaan-3
