'Chandrayaan 3 will have a safe landing': 1st Indian in space Rakesh Sharma confident of India's success

As the Chandrayaan 3 all set to create history with the successful soft landing on the Moon’s Surface on Wednesday evening, Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space on Wednesday said “Knowing the functioning of ISRO, I look forward to a successful Moon landing.” “Space explorations do have their ups and downs, but we’ve remained focused in our approach, and knowing the way ISRO functions I can proudly say that Chandrayaan 3 will have a safe landing. I look forward to a successful Moon landing,” he added. Sharma will join eminent personalities such as astronauts Sunita Williams and S Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, to provide insights on the live simulcast of Chandrayaan-3 #countdowntohistory across National Geographic Channel and Disney+ Hotstar. “In the last 40 years, despite limited resources, ISRO has had a spectacular journey, the programmes we have conducted over the years have surprised the world,” said Sharma who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos Programme to travel in space. “Space explorations do have their ups and downs, but we’ve remained focused in our approach, and knowing the way ISRO functions I can proudly say that Chandrayaan 3 will have a safe landing. I look forward to a successful Moon landing,” he added. The Vikram Landing Module of Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled to land on the Moon’s south pole at 6:04 PM today. Once the Vikram Module lands safely, it will perform a systems check and run a few diagnostics. It will also prepare the Pragyaan Rover to go out on to the lunar surface and carry out its data and sample collection. The Pragyaan rover will be on its mission for 14 days, during which it will be analysing the Moon’s surface for traces of water ice, helium-3 and many other critical components. The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which has been developed for just over Rs 600 crore, will be critical to India’s future space missions as well as for other countries. Chandrayaan-3’s experiments will determine whether it is feasible to set up a launch station for interplanetary expeditions, on the Moon. Furthermore, Chandrayaan-3’s findings will tell us whether the moon is a viable option for our clean energy goals. Scientists believe that Helium-3 or He-3 holds the key to virtually limitless clean energy, and will be vital for the world, in achieving our clean energy goals. With inputs from ANI.