                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2023 July 19
   A rocket is seen after lift-off with a long smoke plume. The rocket is
    captured against a blue sky and has gone through a cloud deck. In the
    foreground is an empty tan-colored field. Please see the explanation
                       for more detailed information.

                     Chandrayaan-3 Launches to the Moon
            Image Credit & Copyright: Sruthi Suresh (Space Group)

   Explanation: Birds don't fly this high. Airplanes don't go this fast.
   The Statue of Liberty weighs less. No species other than human can even
   comprehend what is going on, nor could any human just a millennium ago.
   The launch of a rocket bound for space is an event that inspires awe
   and challenges description. Pictured here last week, the Indian Space
   Research Organization's LVM3 rocket blasted off from the Satish Dhawan
   Space Centre on Sriharikota Island, India. From a standing start, the
   600,000+ kilogram rocket ship lifted the massive Chandrayaan-3 off the
   Earth. The Chandrayaan-3 mission is scheduled to reach the Moon in late
   August and land a robotic rover near the lunar South Pole. Rockets
   bound for space are now launched from somewhere on Earth every few
   days.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

