The photos of the moon mission were part of a documentary titled ‘Space on Wheels’ that Isro has posted on its website, which showcased 75 satellites launched by India as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.
Isro chairman S Somnath has recently said that they are testing the propulsion system of the third lunar mission.
The Isro documentary appears to show the lander of Chandrayaan-3 that will make India’s second attempt on moon-landing. The video also shows the ongoing work on India’s first manned space mission Gaganyaan, Venus orbiter mission and Indo-US joint venture project NISAR mission.
Chandrayaan-3, which was earlier scheduled for launch in late 2020, was delayed due to the Covid pandemic. The lunarcraft is a lander-specific mission and won’t have any orbiter as the first orbiter of Chandrayaan-2 is working satisfactorily. Chandrayaan-3 mission is significant as it will test Isro’s second attempt for landing on Moon and will pave the way for interplanetary missions.
Earlier Chandrayaan-2’s mission, which was launched on July 22, 2019, was only partially successful as the lander had crash-landed. However, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter has been circling around the Moon at around 100 km altitude from the lunar surface since August 20, 2019 and taking images of the lunar surface and sending key data related to the Moon.
