Live stream to begin at 7:50AM
From NYT:
The Chandrayaan-3 landing module is expected to reach the moon’s surface on Wednesday at 8:34 a.m. Eastern time (it will be 6:04 p.m. in India).
The lander is in an elliptical orbit of the moon, swinging as close as about 15 miles above the surface. On Wednesday at around 8:14 a.m. Eastern time, ISRO says the spacecraft will fire its engines to bring itself out of orbit and begin a descent to the surface. The engines will further brake its fall, to help it achieve a soft landing.
The nation’s space program, the Indian Space Research Organization, will provide a livestream from the mission control room in Bengaluru. You can watch it on ISRO’s YouTube channel or website starting at 7:50 a.m. Eastern.
Chandrayaan means “moon craft” in Hindi. In addition to the propulsion module that pushed the spacecraft into orbit around the moon, the landing module consists of the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover that will attempt to set down on the lunar surface in the moon’s south polar region. The mission is robotic and there are no astronauts aboard.
The Aug. 23 landing was selected because it is the day when the sun will rise at the landing site. The mission is to conclude two weeks later when the sun sets. While on the surface, the solar-powered lander and rover will use a range of instruments to make thermal, seismic and mineralogical measurements.
www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/23/science/india-moon-landing-chandrayaan-3
AC