Full Moon set at dawn, behind Cenotaphs, Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, India

© Vaibhav Tripathi/Alamy Stock Phot

Reaching beyond Earth's boundaries. Cenotaphs, Orchha, Madhya Pradesh

India is set to join the ranks of the United States, China and the former Soviet Union as the fourth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon. Leading this mission is the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), with their Chandrayaan-3 project marking India's third landing endeavor. Chandrayaan-2 was the first, and it faced disappointment in 2019 when its lander crashed during its descent. The primary goal of this mission is to explore water ice in craters at the lunar south pole and study the region's cold traps that hold a record of our early Solar System. The outcome of the Chandrayaan-3 moon lander mission by the ISRO will play a critical role in establishing India's involvement in lunar exploration and governance.