Chandrayaan-3 updates: Vikram Lander scheduled to make soft landing at 6.04pm tomorrow

Ahead of the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3 soft landing, High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom, Vikram Doraiswami said that there could be no bigger statement of India's remarkable success as a nation.

"For me, there could be no bigger statement of India's remarkable success as a nation. I am not saying this just as an Indian diplomat but as a proud Indian," he said, reported ANI. 

He further said that India started the space program when it had little economic means.

Lucknow Eidgah Imam scholar Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali told news agency ANI, "Children offered namaz at Islamic Center madrasa and prayed for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3...They also study science here so they have a lot of curiosity regarding this. I extend my heartiest congratulations to all the scientists and officials of ISRO. If the landing is successful tomorrow on the unexplored lunar south pole, India will be the first country to successfully do this..."

1. Ahead of Chandrayaan-3’s soft-landing on the lunar surface, scheduled for August 23, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist said on Monday that the national space agency will go ahead with the landing only if conditions on the day are favourable; otherwise, a fresh attempt will be made on August 27, he noted.

2. “Two hours before Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon, we will take a decision 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,” Nilesh M Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre, ISRO, told news agency ANI.

3. Desai, however, expressed confidence that Vikram, the mission’s lander module, will reach the lunar surface as per the original schedule. Read full story on Chandrayaan 3 landing

“The high resolution camera installed in Vikram lander will monitor the surface for safe landing from a height of 25km initially...The expectations are that after finding a suitable space it lands timely,” said OP Gupta, senior engineer at Nehru Planetarium.

OP Gupta, senior engineer at Nehru Planetarium, told ANI, “The attempts made so far are successful as per the information received from ISRO. In case there comes any difficulty and the conditions are unsuitable, ISRO has kept enough fuel to sustain it for four more days. It has been made technically strong...”

1. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday shared fresh images of the moon captured by Vikram Lander's Imager Camera 4. The images of Moon's surface were shared by ISRO on its X account.

2. Earlier, ISRO said that the Chandrayaan 3 moon mission is on schedule and the systems are undergoing regular checks. “Smooth sailing is continuing. The Mission Operations Complex (MOX) is buzzed with energy & excitement!” ISRO said in a post on X.

3. ISRO said the images of the moon were captured by the lander position detection camera (LPDC) from a height of about 70 kilometres on August 19. Read full story on latest images of Moon by Chandrayaan 3

Russian Consul General to South India, Oleg Nikolayevich Avdeev told news agency ANI, "Everybody in India and also myself are all eagerly waiting for tomorrow's event in the lunar orbit. I am sure that it will be a success for the Indian lunar program and the rover will land safely and start functioning...I am sure this will be a very fruitful lunar program for India and it will definitely be a great success and there will be more exploration on the moon."

Addressing a press conference, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said that Chandrayaan 3 mission is a great achievement of India and everyone will celebrate tomorrow when its lands successfully on the lunar surface.  

1. Prakash Raj has now provided detailed context to his tweet from Sunday on Chandrayaan-3 that included a joke on a chaiwala or a teaseller. While he got trolled massively for that remark, he clarified on Monday that it's a reference to the Kerala chaiwala joke from the times of Neil Armstrong, the first man to reach the moon.

2. In a new tweet on Tuesday, Prakash Raj addressed his trolls and wrote, “ATTENTION:-dear #Unacedemy trolls and #godimedia who know only one #Chaiwala .. proudly presenting .. the ever inspiring our own malayali chaiwala since 1960 s ..if you want to be educated please read #justasking"

3. He also addressed the link to a blog post that narrated the Malayali chaiwala-Neil Armstrong joke in detail. The story goes like when Neil Armstrong reached the moon, a Malayali chaiwala was already there, as he had set his shop to serve South Indian delicacies to the aliens. When Neil pleaded to him that he needed to prove he was the first man on moon, so that the US gets ahead of its Cold War nemesis the USSR in the space mission, the Malayali chaiwala called Rajendra Krishan Menon agreed. Read full story on actor Prakash Raj's explanation of his controversial tweet on Chandrayaan 3

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that it's a very happy moment for the country and people are waiting eagerly for Chandrayaan 3's soft landing on Wednesday. “I will pray for Chandrayaan 3's successful landing tomorrow,” he added.  

1. A video of a miniature model of Chandrayaan-3 made with gold has left people stunned. The clip, shared on X (formally Twitter), shows a Coimbatore-based artist, Mariappan, making the 1.5-inch tall model complete with a tiny flag of India.

2. ANI posted the video on X. “Tamil Nadu | A Coimbatore-based miniature artist designs a 1.5-inch tall model of #Chandrayaan-3 using 4 grams of gold,” the news agency also wrote. “Chandrayaan-3's Lunar Lander Vikram is all set for a soft landing on the moon tomorrow, 23rd August,” they added.

3. In an update, ANI also shared a quote from the artist. “I make miniature models using gold every time an important event takes place. This is a proud moment for every Indian. To express my gratitude to all the scientists involved in the Chandrayaan-3 project, I designed this model using 4 grams of gold. It took me 48 hours to design this,” Mariappan said. Read detailed story on Chandrayaan 3 miniature model by Coimbatore-based artist

1. A complaint has been filed at a police station in Karnataka's Bagalkot district against actor Prakash Raj for his social media post allegedly mocking the Chandrayaan-3 mission, news agency ANI reported.

2. In his X post (formally Twitter), the actor allegedly mocked India's ambitious third lunar mission-- Chandrayaan-3, the police said on Tuesday.

3. "Hindu organisations leaders filed a complaint against the actor in Banahatti police station of Bagalkote district and have demanded action," they added.  Read full story on Prakash Raj controversy over tweet on Chandrayaan 3

"History has been created by India's experts and scientists. Under the leadership of PM Modi, India has been scaling new heights and now we are making an effort to see that the Tiranga is hoisted on the moon..." said Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. 

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has announced that the Chandrayaan-3's landing on Moon will be telecast live in all State-run shools in Uttar Pardesh, news agency ANI reported. Schools will open specially for one hour in the evening for the viewing.

“On August 23, at 5.27 pm, the Chandrayaan-3 moon landing process will be telecast live on the ISRO website, YouTube channel and DD National. In such a situation, arrangements should be made for live telecast by organizing special meetings in schools and educational institutions from 5.15 to 6.15 pm,” a government statement said.

Another Opposition leader spoke on Chandrayaan-3 mission following comments from AAP's Arvind Kejriwal and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut. Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat on Tuesday said, “With the whole nation, we are also waiting for this great moment. And we pray to God that the dream of our space scientists comes true. And this results in the welfare of humanity. We should also remember the visionary Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who established the ISRO and laid the foundation for today’s achievements.”

Hindu organisations's leaders on Tuesday registered a police complaint against actor Prakash Raj his tweet on Chandrayaan-3 mission. The actor on Sunday tweeted a picture of a cartoon depicting a man in a vest and lungi pouring tea, which he called the “first picture coming from the Moon”.

Chandrayaan-3 Live updates: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal says, “This is an extremely happy moment for the country that Chandrayaan-3 will be landing tomorrow. I pray to god for its successful landing. The entire country is eagerly waiting for it. ”

Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said this historic moment should not be politicised that that they are all awaiting the landing tomorrow. 

A video of a miniature model of Chandrayaan-3 made with gold has left people stunned. The clip, shared on X (formally Twitter), shows a Coimbatore-based artist, Mariappan, making the 1.5-inch tall model complete with a tiny flag of India. Read more