As India’s ambitious lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3 begins its final phase, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released the latest images of the Moon. The pictures were taken on Thursday by Chandrayaan 3’s lander Vikram soon after its separation from the Propulsion Module.

Vikram lander will attempt a soft landing near the less explored south pole region of the Moon on August 23. If successful, India will be only the fourth country in the world to land on the lunar surface and probably the first on the south pole of the Moon. Russia’s Moon mission Luna 25 is also en route to the Moon and will attempt landing near the south pole between August 21 and 23.

Earlier on Thursday, the Lander Module entered the final phase of its Moon mission and separated from the Propulsion Module which carried it to lunar orbit. The latest images shared by the Vikram lander show high-definition close-up shots of the Moon. The latest images show a few lunar impact craters, including Fabry, Giordano Bruno, and Harkhebi J. In one of the images, the Earth is also visible.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:

View from the Lander Imager (LI) Camera-1
on August 17, 2023
just after the separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Modul

Chandrayaan -3 Vikram lander begins its descent to the lower orbit

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:

View from the Lander Imager (LI) Camera-1
on August 17, 2023
just after the separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module #Chandrayaan_3 #Ch3 pic.twitter.com/abPIyEn1Ad

— ISRO (@isro) August 18, 2023

Earlier in the day, the ISRO released the latest update about the health and progress of the Chandrayaan 3 mission. The Indian Space Research Organisation said that the health of Vikram Lander is normal and it successfully underwent its first de-boosting operation, which reduced its orbit to just 113 km x 157 km.

“The Lander Module (LM) health is normal. LM successfully underwent a de-boosting operation that reduced its orbit to 113 km x 157 km. The second de-boosting operation is scheduled for August 20, 2023, around 0200 Hrs,” Isro said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Chandrayaan 3’s Vikram Lander, which is carrying a rover inside it, will attempt a soft landing on the south pole region of the Moon on August 23. According to the ISRO, the mission objectives of Chandrayaan 3 are to “demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface” and conduct in-situ scientific experiments on the Moon.