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A successful Chandrayaan-3, they say, will take us a step closer in that quest.

  Once it lands and the dust settles, the six-wheeled rover will crawl out of its belly and roam around the rocks and craters on the Moon's surface, gathering crucial data and images to be sent to the lander, which will pass it on to the orbiter to send to Earth. The rover's wheels have the Isro's logo and emblem embossed on them so that they leave imprints on the lunar soil during the Moon walk, an official told the BBC. The landing date has been carefully selected to coincide with the start of a lunar day (a day on the Moon equals 28 days on Earth) because the batteries of the lander and the rover will need sunlight to be able to charge and function . Once night falls, they will discharge and stop working. It's not yet clear whether they will come back to life when the next lunar day starts. The south pole of the Moon holds special promise in that search - the surface area that remains in permanent shadow there is huge, and scientists say it means there is a possibili

One of the latest images sent by the Vikram lander

  One of the latest images sent by the Vikram lander Mr Somanath has said Chandrayaan-3 will work to build on the success of India's earlier Moon missions and help make some "very substantial" scientific discovery. Chandrayaan-1, the country's first Moon mission in 2008, had discovered the presence of water molecules on the parched lunar surface and established that the Moon has an atmosphere during daytime. And despite failing the soft landing, Chandrayaan-2 was not a complete write-off - its orbiter continues to circle the Moon even today and will help the Vikram lander send images and data to Earth for analysis. The lander and the rover are carrying five scientific instruments which will help discover "the physical characteristics of the surface of the Moon, the atmosphere close to the surface and the tectonic activity to study what goes on below the surface". On Wednesday, scientists will use a complex set of manoeuvres to reduce the lander's speed g