5 Big Moon missions that are set to take off in 2023; NASA to ISRO, space race is on!
From observing the farthest galaxy from Earth (GN-z11) to shifting the orbit of an asteroid by striking it with a spacecraft, scientists reached many new milestones in 2022. But it appears that the Moon will be the center of all attention in 2023. Many space agencies are looking at our sole natural satellite as a destination to visit and explore. While the Moon race between the USA and Russia ended decades ago, we still remember when Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin landed on the lunar surface. Now, a new space race is building up. And from NASA to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) are all participating. Read on to know about the 5 big Moon missions setting up in 2023.
Roughly the size of a briefcase, Lunar Flashlight is a very small satellite which was launched on December 11. The satellite has been equipped with near-infrared lasers and spectrometers which will map ice in permanently shadowed regions near the Moon's south pole. The reason behind the mission is to look for the presence of water ice deposits inside craters that would be an valuable in-situ resource for future Artemis missions to the lunar surface. It will reach the Moon in the next three months.
Chandrayaan-3 comes after the ambitious Chandrayaan-2 mission back in July 2019 that eventually failed to execute a proper landing for the Pragyaan rover. Chandrayaan-2 used the most advanced GSLV-Mk 3 geosynchronous launch vehicle but the mission failed after Vikram lander crashed onto the lunar surface on September 7, 2019. However, the follow up mission may finally put a rover on the Moon in 2023.
Hakuto-R is a lunar lander developed by iSpace, a private Japanese company specializing in robotic spacecraft technologies. The mission was launched on December
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