The entirety of India lies in wait as Chandrayaan-3 soft landing attempt is all set to unfold at 6:04 PM today (August 23,2023). And why not? India's third moon mission is incredibly significant, not just for the country and ISRO, but also for the global space exploration community.

Before the live streaming begins this evening and the mega event unfolds, let's take a look at why Chandrayaan-3 is as important as it is!

United States, China, and the USSR form the elite and exclusive group of countries which have managed a soft landing on the moon. If India's Chandrayaan-3 mission turns out to be successful, India will join this elite group of countries and write its name in humanity's space exploration history.

The aim of Chandrayaan-3 is to make a soft landing on the lunar side of the Moon, aka Moon's South Pole. Landing there is difficult, and no other moon mission has achieved this feat. Russia's Luna-25, which crashed recently, also attempted to the same feat. But if Chandrayaan-3 is a success, India will officially become the first country to soft land on Moon's south pole.

In 2019, India's Chandrayaan-2 mission failed after the lander "Vikram" crashed into the lunar surface. Four years have passed since then and Chandrayaan-3's success can redeem that partial failure for ISRO. According to ISRO, Chandrayaan-3 has been designed keeping in mind all factors that can go wrong, in order to avoid failure this time around.

As we said, Chandrayaan-3 will attempt soft landing on the Moon's South Pole. If the landing is successful, the rover will detach from the lander and begin its probe on the lunar side of the moon. This holds immense potential in terms of providing new and vital insights into the Moon's formation, its current topology and geology.

ISRO is regarded as a top space organization thanks to the space exploration success it has seen in the past. But the success of Chandrayaan-3, with it being the first moon mission to land on the moon's south pole, will write ISRO's name in the global space history.

There will be special screenings of Chandrayaan-3's soft landing attempt across the country. But if you want to watch this mega event in India's space history from the comfort of your homes, you can catch the live telecast on Doordarshan TV, ISRO's official website and its YouTube and Facebook.