India goes past China as Chandrayaan-3 prepares to land on Moon's south pole next week

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Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Thursday announced that the Chandrayaan 3's ‘Vikram’ lander module of the spacecraft has successfully separated from the propulsion module. The ‘Vikram’ lander module was with the propulsion module for the last month in their journey from India's Sriharikota to Earth's satellite Moon.

The Lander Module which includes the Vikram lander and rover Pragyan is now ready to be lowered to an orbit that takes it closer to the lunar surface and the soft landing on the Moon's south pole is scheduled for 5:47 pm on Wednesday, reported PTI. Informing about the new update on X (formerly Twitter), ISRO posted "Thanks for the ride, mate! said the Lander Module (LM).

LM is successfully separated from the Propulsion Module (PM). LM is set to descend to a slightly lower orbit upon a deboosting planned for tomorrow around 1600 Hrs., IST," ISRO said in a post India will become only the 4th country in the country after US, China and the former Soviet Union to master soft-landing on the moon's surface if the Chandrayaan-3 is able to successfully complete its mission.

However, India is not the only country trying to reach Moon's south pole. While Russia's Luna-25 mission is also set to make the lunar landing next week, China is all set to launch Chang'e 6- CNSA, the mission aimed at returning samples from the moon's south pole and contributing to the country's ongoing lunar explorations.

Rough terrain on the Moon makes a landing difficult, but the South Pole is a prized destination because scientists believe that it could hold significant quantities of ice which could be used to extract fuel and oxygen, as well as for drinking water. No country has ever made a soft landing on the moon's south pole