Chandrayaan-3 - a quick recap.
On 14th July 2023, ISRO launched Chandrayaan-3. Its lander achieved a soft landing on the moon, and India became the first country to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole.
But did you know the spacecraft avoided a collision during its launch?
Oh no! What happened?
On launch day, ISRO spotted space debris and satellites moving on a path that would have caused them to crash with Chandrayaan-3 when it would have reached space.
Space debris moves at very high speeds, up to 10 kilometres per second. That’s like travelling from Central Delhi to Gurugram in just 4 seconds! Satellites move at 28,800 kilometres per hour.
Collisions at such speeds could cause major damage. If debris or satellites had crashed with the spacecraft, the mission could have failed.
A delayed launch saved the mission!
ISRO delayed Chandrayaan-3's lift-off by four seconds to avoid collisions with space debris and other satellites.
Four seconds may appear to be a short amount of time, but it is enough time to avoid a collision in space as space debris and satellites move quickly.
So, in this short time, they moved out of the way, leaving a clear and safe path for Chandrayaan-3.
