Chandrayaan-3 landing on Aug 27? Does India have Plan B for the lunar mission?

With the Chandrayaan-3 Mission,India is all set to take a giant leap in the arena of space as it willattempt a soft landing on the moon on Wednesday (August 23). India is all set to become the fourth country in the world to achieve this feat after the United States, USSR, and China, but India will be the only country in the world to land on the lunar south pole.

This will be India's second attemptedlunar landing, butin case anything goes awry or any factor regarding the lander module becomes problematic, then the landing will be shifted to August 27, said the Space Applications Centre-ISRO about Chandrayaan-3 on Monday.

Nilesh M Desai, who is the director of Space Applications Centre-ISRO, Ahmedabad, said that the decision regarding the landing will be taken based on the health of the lander module and the conditions on the moon.

As quoted by news agency PTI, Director Desai said: "On August 23, two hours before Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon, we will decide on whether or not it will be appropriate to land it at that time based on the health of the lander module and the conditions on the moon."

"In case, if any factor appears to be not favourable, then we will land the module on the moon on August 27. No problem should occur and we will be able to land the module on August 23," Desai added.

In the latest update, ISRO shared pictures of the lunar far side captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC). The Indian space agency also thanked everyone for the wishes and positivity for the mission as the Indian space agency said that Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the Moon on August 23 around 6:04 pm IST.

ISRO Chairman and Secretary Department of Space S Somanath called on the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology, Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh in New Delhi today and apprised him of the status and readiness of 'Chandrayaan-3'for the moon landing scheduled for August 23.

Somanath briefed the minister on the health status of Chandrayaan-3 and said that all systems are working perfectly and no contingencies are anticipated on Wednesday.

Watch:Will Chandrayaan-3 land or crash?

'Vikram will make a landing'

However, earlier this month, ISRO chairman S Somanath assured that Vikram Lander will be able to make a soft landing on the moon's surface on August 23.

He claimed that the landing is certain even if all the sensors and two of its engines do not work. The Vikram lander is expected to descend on the moon on August 23.

While speaking during an interaction hosted by the non-profit organisation Disha Bharat, he said that the design of the lander is such that it would be able to handle failures.

Somanath said: "If everything fails, if all the sensors fail, nothing works, still it (Vikram) will make a landing. That's how it has been designed -- provided that the propulsion system works well."

(With inputs from agencies)

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