Bengaluru: Chandrayaan-2 welcomes 3

Bengaluru/New Delhi : Ahead of its planned landing on the moon's untouched south pole on August 23, Chandrayaan-3's lander module has established a two-way communication with Chandrayaan-2's orbiter and the ISRO said on Monday all systems are working perfectly and no contingencies are anticipated. The two-way contact potentially offers ground controllers more channels for communication with Chandrayaan-3.

"‘Welcome, buddy!' Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM(Lander Module). Two-way communication between the two is established. MOX has now more routes to reach the LM," the national space agency said in a post on 'X'. The MOX (Mission Operations Complex) is located at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO), the LM Vikram with rover Pragyan in its belly is expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon around 6.04 pm on August 23. It also said the live telecast of the historic landing event will begin at 5.20 pm on that day. The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprising orbiter, lander and rover was launched in 2019. The lander with a rover inside crashed into the moon's surface, failing in its mission to achieve a soft-landing. The ISRO had said that due to the precise launch and orbital manoeuvres, the mission life of the Ch-2 orbiter is increased to seven years. The ISRO also released images of the lunar far side area captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC). Chandrayaan-3 has an inbuilt "salvage mode" which will help it land even if every thing goes wrong, professor Radhakant Padhi, Aerospace Scientist, Indian Institute of Science explained, pointing out that a lot of improvements have been done after Chandrayaan-2's failure.

A recent post by actor Prakash Raj on India's Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 has sparked outrage on social media. The 58-year-old's illustration of an old Malayali joke about a tea seller on the Moon has been seen by some on X, formerly known as Twitter, as a sarcastic and derogatory swipe at the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

He has now reacted to the backlash, clarifying it was "a joke of Armstrong times" in reference to the people of Kerala.