Chandrayaan -3 the Indian Space Research Organisation’s third Moon mission at a budget of US$ 74.6 million the cheapest ever, blasts into space. It’s the second attempt to do so ended in failure four years ago as ground control lost contact moments before landing. Only Russia, China  and the United States  have previously achieved a controlled landing on the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan-3  which means Mooncraft in Sanskrit will touch down near the Moon’s little explored south pole between August 23 and 24. According to ISRO, Chandrayaan-3 includes a lander module named Vikram which means Valour in Sanskrit and a rover named Pragyan, wisdom in Sanskrit.

The Chandrayaan 3 spacecraft will take longer to reach the Moon than the manned Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s which arrived in a matter of days.

The less powerful Indian rocket  than the United States’ Saturn V  and the probe will orbit earth five or six time elliptically to gain speed, before being send on a month-long lunar trajectory. Chanrayaan-3 landing if successful the rover will roll off  Vikram  and explore the nearby lunar area and sent back images to Earth for analysis. If successful India will be the first country to land near the Moon’s little-explored south pole.

In 2014 Indian became the first Asian nation to put a satellite into orbit around Mars, and three years later launched 104 satellites in a single mission.