This might be a report week for area exploration—regardless of the obliterating crash of Russia’s lunar spacecraft on Sunday. The Indian Area Analysis Group (ISRO) will try to land on the moon on August 23 with the Chandrayaan-3 mission. If profitable, India can be solely the fourth nation to efficiently place a probe on the moon, and the primary to land on the lunar south pole.

The first Soviet and American comfortable landings on the moon occurred all the best way again within the Sixties, on the daybreak of the Area Race. But it surely’s not simple to deposit a lunar lander—since these early successes, China has been the only nation to hitch Russia and the US on this feat.

“Only a few nations have landed on something. It’s simply actually laborious, and all the pieces has to work nearly completely,” says Dave Williams, a planetary scientist who archives information of the moon at NASA’s Goddard Area Flight Heart.

To start out, spaceflight is a large engineering problem, and the moon is a very difficult goal. In contrast to Earth or Mars, our satellite tv for pc has no ambiance, so there’s nothing pure to decelerate a spacecraft—no air for parachutes or gliders to make use of. The one approach to get to the floor with out crashing is a managed descent, during which rockets decrease the probe all the best way down. Plus, the rocket engines should shut off at a exact second so the craft doesn’t bounce again up off the lunar floor.

[Related: 10 incredible lunar missions that paved the way for Artemis]

Making issues worse, though the moon doesn’t have oceans or cities, it nonetheless has loads of hazards—particularly, rocks and craters. Spacecraft must navigate this terrain totally on their very own. The moon is way away sufficient from Earth command facilities {that a} lander have to be pre-programmed to do what it must for a secure touchdown.

This isn’t India’s first go to to the moon. The nation’s lunar program started again in 2008, with a lunar orbiter and impactor within the Chandrayaan-1 mission. Chandrayaan-1 “performed a significant function in elevating consciousness of area science among the many normal public,” says College of Florida astronomer Pranav Satheesh. “Many college students, together with myself, had been impressed to pursue careers in area science and astronomy upon witnessing the success of ISRO’s packages.”

India made its first try at a comfortable touchdown with the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019. Sadly, that lander, named Vikram after the pioneering physicist Vikram Sarabhai, failed within the final phases of its descent, crashing into the lunar floor. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter later noticed particles from Vikram’s crash as bits of metallic strewn throughout the lunar panorama. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter remained operational, nevertheless, and it continues to gather information in help of the present lunar touchdown try.

[Related: Why do all these countries want to go to the moon right now?]

Chandrayaan-3’s journey up to now has been proper on observe. “Pleasure about this mission is unquestionably palpable throughout Indian information media, WhatsApp chats, and even in on a regular basis conversations for lots of parents there,” says Pratik Gandhi, an astronomer at the College of California, Davis. 

It entered lunar orbit on August 5, separated from its propulsion system on August 17, and even snapped a couple of teaser pics of the moon on August 18. Because the lander descends to the moon within the coming days, probably the most harmful second is probably going the touchdown’s remaining step: the wonderful braking section. “The lander should kill all of its velocity and enter a hover state at a couple of kilometer above the lunar floor, at which level it should additionally determine in 12 seconds if it’s above its desired touchdown area or not and proceed with the landing accordingly,” explains science journalist Jatan Mehta. Russia’s Luna-25 probe, however, failed a lot earlier in its journey—which can be an indication of poor manufacturing or an absence of testing.

When the Indian lander touches down, it ought to solely be transferring at about 4 miles per hour. However solely the slightest deviations separate a crash touchdown from a managed one. “The moon’s gravity, despite the fact that it’s only about one-sixth of Earth’s, remains to be greater than sufficient to destroy a spacecraft if it isn’t slowed down,” says Williams. 

If Chandrayaan-3 safely reaches the moon, it has some thrilling science investigations in retailer. In contrast to any lander to return earlier than, Chandrayaan-3 is concentrating on the moon’s south pole, the place astronomers assume there are deposits of water. Water is an important useful resource for future longer-term area exploration, each for astronauts to drink and to be used as rocket gas. 

Chandryaan-3’s lander, additionally referred to as Vikram, is carrying a small rover named Pragyan. Pragyan is just about 50 kilos—the load of a medium-sized Goldendoodle—and can roam the lunar floor for about two weeks. It’s geared up with two spectrometers, which may measure the composition of rocks and soil, offering scientists with essential details about this never-before-explored area of the moon.

The lunar southlands are additionally a key goal for future installments in NASA’s Artemis program, paving the best way for semi-permanent human habitation on our nearest celestial neighbor. In June 2023, India signed on to the Artemis Accords, an settlement for cooperation between nations in area exploration. Japan, one other signatory of the accords, even has a rover within the works with India, with the purpose of drilling into the lunar south pole in quest of extra water. All of those plans may have a greater likelihood at fruition if India efficiently lands on the moon.

“That India is without doubt one of the few nations to have the ability to construct lunar landers means Chandrayaan-3’s success can be a important a part of having the ability to really maintain the present world momentum for a return to the moon,” says Mehta. As extra nations attempt to land on the moon, classes from success—and failures—ought to assist enhance every subsequent try.

Tune in to look at the Chandrayaan-3 touchdown on the ISRO’s YouTube channel beginning at 7:57 a.m. Japanese time/4:57 a.m. Pacific (5:27 p.m. India Normal Time) on August 23. The precise touchdown is scheduled to happen roughly 37 minutes later. Inside seconds, we must always know if the lander has safely touched down on the moon.