The latest on India’s successful moon landing.
www.nytimes.com
Coming on the heels of Russia’s lunar lander crash over the weekend, India is hoping to become on Wednesday the first nation to set down in the moon’s south polar region.
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  • Time:
    • 2023-08-23T12:34+00 (UTC)
    • 2023-08-23T05:34-07 (Los Angeles)
    • 2023-08-23T08:34-04 (New York)
    • 2023-08-23T15:34+03 (Helsinki)
    • 2023-08-23T15:34+03 (Kyiv)
    • 2023-08-23T18:04+05:30 (Delhi)
    • 2023-08-23T19:34+07 (Jakarta)
    • 2023-08-23T20:34+08 (Beijing)
    • 2023-08-23T22:34+10 (Sydney)

What is Chandrayaan-3?

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.