A team of scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) visited the Tirupati Venkatachalapathy temple on the morning of Thursday, July 13 to seek blessings ahead of the upcoming launch of Chandrayaan-3, a moon exploration mission. Carrying with them a miniature model of the spacecraft, the team arrived at the temple to offer prayers for a successful mission.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to begin its lunar journey on Friday at 2.50 pm. Launched into space by the LVM3 rocket, the spacecraft will embark on a long journey of approximately 3,84,000 km before reaching the lunar surface. A successful soft landing will make India the fourth country, after the US, Russia, and China to achieve the feat. The missions from Israel and India crash-landed in 2019 while the spacecraft carrying a lander-rover from Japan and a rover from UAE failed in 2022. ISRO scientists have improved the lander's design after a series of tests.
The mission's objective is for the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft to successfully land on the moon, which is expected to take place on August 23 or 24. The spacecraft is composed of three main components: a propulsion module weighing 2,148 kg, a lander weighing 1,723.89 kg, and a rover weighing 26 kg, according to ISRO.
The practice of ISRO scientists taking replicas of satellites to temples for blessings before a launch has been done for a long a time now. According to reports, former chairman Dr K Kasturirangan started the practice when he was the chairman of ISRO for nine years, from 1994 till 2003. His successor Dr G Madhavan Nair, who was ISRO chairman for about six years from 2003, continued the practice.
Scientists and other members of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) or Sriharikota Range (Shar) also visit the Chengalamma temple before the launch of every satellite.
#WATCH | Andhra Pradesh | A team of ISRO scientists team arrive at Tirupati Venkatachalapathy Temple, with a miniature model of Chandrayaan-3 to offer prayers.
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2023
Chandrayaan-3 will be launched on July 14, at 2:35 pm IST from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, ISRO had… pic.twitter.com/2ZRefjrzA5