Back to the moon
Four years after India’s Chandrayaan-2 failed to execute a soft landing near the south pole of the moon, the countdown for Chandrayaan-3 to make that attempt afresh has begun. The launch is scheduled for Friday, and a lunar touchdown is expected on 23 or 24 August, when a lander is slated to descend, roll out a rover, and get busy taking readings and doing experiments, some in dark and cold patches that could hold many secrets.
If successful, India will be only the fourth country to reach the moon and the first to physically probe an inhospitable part of it. Many fixes have reportedly been made by our space agency to overcome all that went wrong last time.
Much effort has gone into risk reduction. Among other things, a wider spot is being targeted for a landing recalibrated to be gentler, with the last mission’s visual data pre-fed for better accuracy of approach by a sturdier craft.
Still, there could always be unknown unknowns. What’s important is the pioneering spirit on display.
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