Chandrayaan 3: Why it's key to NASA's astronaut mission to Moon in 2025 | South Pole Landing

Following Chandrayaan 3's launch on July 14, one of the biggest hurdles before India's third Moon mission is the area of the Moon where ISRO has planned a landing.

The landing site is near the Moon's South Pole and is similar to the Chandrayaan 2 mission.

All previous spacecraft sent by other countries have landed near the Moon's equator which is smoother and gets more sunlight for solar-powered instruments.

However, the Moon's poles don't get much sunlight, and the temperature can fall as low as minus 230°C.

The poles also have large craters, and the region remains unexplored from the surface.

NASA wants to send astronauts to the South Pole to look for frozen water.

And so, data from Chandrayaan 3 can play an important role in NASA's future mission.

Also watch: Chandrayaan 3 launch: ISRO's 3rd Moon mission may add India in elite 3-nation club

Through the Chandryaan-3 programme, ISRO is crossing new frontiers by demonstrating soft-landing on the lunar surface by its lunar module and demonstrating roving on the lunar terrain, the space agency said.

The LVM3-M4 rocket (formerly GSLVMkI II) dubbed as 'Fat Boy' by the space scientists for its ability to carry heavy payload, would carry Chandrayaan-3 on Friday as ISRO's ambitious moon mission is hugely anticipated from this spaceport on Friday.

The soft landing of the spacecraft is planned for late August. The mission is expected to be supportive to future interplanetary missions.

Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of an indigenous propulsion module, lander module and a rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.

Friday's mission is the fourth operational flight of LVM3 which aims to launch the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into a Geo Transfer Orbit.

The LVM3 vehicle has proved its versatility to undertake most complex missions including injecting multiple satellites, interplanetary missions among others. It is also the largest and heaviest launch vehicle ferrying domestic and international customer satellites, ISRO said.

Scientists at ISRO through the third moon mission aim to demonstrate various capabilities including reaching the orbit of the moon, making a soft-landing on the lunar surface using a lander, and a rover coming out of the lander to study the surface of the moon.

(with PTI inputs)