India's Chandrayaan Missions: Navigating Lunar Challenges and Future Plans

India's Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander launch time was shifted by four seconds to avoid close approaches to other space objects. The liftoff took place on July 14, making India the fourth country to safely soft land on the moon. The decision to change the launch time was made after analyzing the orbits of tracked space objects to ensure collision avoidance. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) emphasized that this is a mandatory practice for all space launch vehicles. The Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully reached the moon and initial science results were discussed, including measurements of the lunar plasma environment and temperature. However, attempts to reestablish contact with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover were unsuccessful.