India is about to reach the moon and so you can see the feat

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London (CNN) - India hopes to become the fourth country - just behind the US, the former Soviet Union and China - to make a soft landing on the surface of the Moon, when its Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft tries the feat on Saturday (this Friday, Eastern Time).

Chandrayaan-2, which translates as a "lunar vehicle" in Sanskrit, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on July 22, a week after its first launch was suspended due to a "technical obstacle."

The Space Research Organization of India (ISRO) reported that its orbiter and its landing module were successfully separated on Monday, six weeks after the start of the mission.

Celebrations in India for the launch of the Chandrayaan-2 mission on July 22, 2019. (ARUN SANKAR / AFP / Getty Images)

The landing module and the rover vehicle are expected to step on the lunar surface early Saturday, local time. If it is successful, it will be the first time a spacecraft lands in the southern polar region of the Moon.

Once there, a rover vehicle will separate from the landing module and begin mapping the southern region, collecting mineral and chemical samples for remote scientific analysis.

How to see the arrival on the moon

So where can you see the landing?

ISRO will broadcast updates on its website (isro.gov.in) from its headquarters in Bangalore, where the president of India, Narendra Modi, will be watching. It will also appear on the YouTube channel of the Indian Press Information Office.

In addition, National Geographic and Hotstar channels will provide live coverage from 11:30 p.m. India time (2:00 p.m. ET) on Friday, with veteran NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger to share his experience.

India Moon