Science
NASA telescopes discover record-breaking black hole
Astronomers have discovered the most distant black hole ever detected in X-rays, using NASA telescopes, the agency said on Monday.
The black hole is at an early stage of growth that had never been witnessed before, where its mass is similar to that of its host galaxy.
Read: Bangladeshi marine biologist Alifa Bintha Haque wins WINGS Women of Discovery Award
By combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, a team of researchers was able to find the telltale signature of a growing black hole just 470 million years after the big bang.
This result may explain how some of the first supermassive black holes in the universe formed, said NASA.
The team found the black hole in a galaxy named UHZ1 in the direction of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744, located 3.5 billion light-years from Earth.
Read: 14-year-old wins award for developing soap to treat skin cancer
Webb data, however, has revealed the galaxy is much more distant than the cluster, at 13.2 billion light-years from Earth, when the universe was only 3 percent of its current age, according to NASA.
Dutch conservation scientist Agnes Brokerhof receives ICCROM Award 2023
Agnes Brokerhof, a Dutch conservation scientist was announced the winner of this year’s ICCROM Award.
It was announced on Thursday on the sidelines of the 33rd session of the ICCROM General Assembly, held 2-3 November in Italy’s Rome, reads a media release.
This biennial Award is one of the most prestigious international recognitions in the field of cultural heritage. It is granted to individuals who have contributed significantly to ICCROM’s development or who have exceptional merit in the conservation, protection and restoration of cultural heritage.
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Agnes Brokerhof, a Dutch conservation scientist and scholar, holds a BSc in biochemistry, a MSc in Analytical Chemistry, and a BA in art history. Following her research fellowship at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), she completed the ICCROM course “Scientific Principles of Conservation” in Rome and currently works for the Cultural Heritage Laboratory of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.
Ms. Brokerhof has dedicated her career to the conservation and management of all forms of cultural heritage. The importance of her work has been recognized worldwide, as she has been invited to speak at numerous conferences and events, sharing her knowledge and skills through lectures and inspiring others in the field, in addition to her teaching, publications, and research papers.
“I am always amazed by the number of projects ICCROM carries out all over the world and the lasting impact they have, with a relatively small team in Rome. It is thanks to the ‘ICCROMized’ professionals they carefully select and tie together into a powerful network. I am proud to be a knot in that network and contribute my bit,” said Ms. Brokerhof upon receiving the award.
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Ms. Brokerhof’s contributions to conservation theory, science, and practice have spanned a great diversity of heritage, from built heritage and natural sciences and humanities collections to contemporary art. The emphasis of her work lies in finding practical and cost-effective solutions for real-life problems in heritage conservation and management, developing new knowledge and methods to support heritage institutions in doing their work more effectively and efficiently.
Read more: Dutch prime minister says he will leave politics after next election
Bangladeshi marine biologist Alifa Bintha Haque wins WINGS Women of Discovery Award
Dr Alifa Bintha Haque from Bangladesh has received WINGS Women of Discovery Award 2023. As part of the award, she is receiving unrestricted grants to further her critical work.
The award ceremony was held on October 12 in New York City, according to a press release.
Govt working to conserve marine biodiversity: Environment Minister
Alifa is a board member of WildTeam and an assistant professor of zoology at Dhaka University.
“I was very humbled to receive this award – woman of discovery, the 100th flag carrier. I was very fortunate to have been named in the cohort with the chief scientist of ESRI, Dawn Wright, and author of the 1st hotspot paper Cristina Mittermeier. It was such an honor!” – Alifa said.
Bangladesh focuses on conservation, sustainable use of marine biodiversity
Alifa’s work focuses on conserving sharks and rays in the global south context. She earned her PhD from the Nature-based Solutions Initiative in the Department of Biology, Oxford, with the support of a Bangabandhu Scholarship. Her research, “Towards a socially just sustainable fishery preserving sharks and rays in the Bay of Bengal,” aims to prepare a sustainability model for the threatened species of sharks and rays in close conjunction with the fishing communities.
Alifa and her team have established the largest regional dataset on diversity, fisheries and trade, discovering highly threatened species of sharks and rays, including 15 new records.
An Edge of Existence Fellow and National Geographic Explorer, Alifa was selected for the 2023 cohort of the Edinburgh Ocean Leaders Programme and awarded the best student presentation at Sharks International 2022 for her talk, “Can fishers be the conservation heroes we need them to be?”
Read more: Dhaka signs treaty of high seas for sustainable use of marine resources
14-year-old wins award for developing soap to treat skin cancer
A 14-year-old school student has been termed "America's top young scientist" for creating a bar of soap that may be effective in the treatment of melanoma, a skin cancer that affects roughly 100,000 individuals in the United States each year and kills approximately 8,000.
Heman Bekele, a ninth-grader from Annandale, Virginia, was selected over nine other finalists for the award, reports The Guardian.
Also read: The next big advance in cancer treatment could be a vaccine
“Curing cancer, one bar of soap at a time,” he said in his submission. “I have always been interested in biology and technology, and this challenge gave me the perfect platform to showcase my ideas,” he added.
He submitted his soap idea, "skin cancer treating soap," produced from ingredients that may reawaken dendritic cells that defend human skin, allowing them to combat cancer cells. Bekele stated in a video for the 3M Young Scientist Challenge that he believes "that young minds can make a positive impact on the world," the report said.
Also read: New AI model can accurately diagnose cancer: Study
Bekele's inspiration stemmed from his childhood in Ethiopia, where he saw people continually labouring under the blazing sun. “I wanted to make my idea something that not only was great in terms of science but also could be accessible to as many people as possible.”
Skin cancer is quite common, according to the American Cancer Society, with melanoma accounting for only 1 percent, yet causing the bulk of skin cancer deaths, the report also said.
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According to the association, melanoma rates have been significantly increasing over the last few decades, particularly among women over 50, and it is more than 20 times more prevalent in white people than in black people. At the same time, owing to breakthroughs in therapy, melanoma death rates have decreased over the last decade.
After receiving the award, Bekele told the judging panel that he hoped the soap would become a "symbol of hope, accessibility, and a world where skin cancer treatment is within everyone's reach."
How are ancient Roman and Mayan buildings still standing? Scientists are unlocking their secrets
In the quest to build better for the future, some are looking for answers in the long-ago past.
Ancient builders across the world created structures that are still standing today, thousands of years later — from Roman engineers who poured thick concrete sea barriers, to Maya masons who crafted plaster sculptures to their gods, to Chinese builders who raised walls against invaders.
Yet scores of more recent structures are already staring down their expiration dates: The concrete that makes up much of our modern world has a lifespan of around 50 to 100 years.
Also read: Two earthquakes strike Nepal, sending tremors through the region
A growing number of scientists have been studying materials from long-ago eras — chipping off chunks of buildings, poring over historical texts, mixing up copycat recipes — hoping to uncover how they've held up for millennia.
This reverse engineering has turned up a surprising list of ingredients that were mixed into old buildings — materials such as tree bark, volcanic ash, rice, beer and even urine. These unexpected add-ins could be key to some pretty impressive properties, like the ability to get stronger over time and "heal" cracks when they form.
Figuring out how to copy those features could have real impacts today: While our modern concrete has the strength to hold up massive skyscrapers and heavy infrastructure, it can't compete with the endurance of these ancient materials.
Also read: 5.4 magnitude earthquake jolts Bangladesh
And with the rising threats of climate change, there's a growing call to make construction more sustainable. A recent UN report estimates that the built environment is responsible for more than a third of global CO2 emissions — and cement production alone makes up more than 7% of those emissions.
"If you improve the properties of the material by using … traditional recipes from Maya people or the ancient Chinese, you can produce material that can be used in modern construction in a much more sustainable way," said Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro, a cultural heritage researcher at Spain's University of Granada.
Is ancient Roman concrete better than today's?
Many researchers have turned to the Romans for inspiration. Starting around 200 BCE, the architects of the Roman Empire were building impressive concrete structures that have stood the test of time — from the soaring dome of the Pantheon to the sturdy aqueducts that still carry water today.
Even in harbors, where seawater has been battering structures for ages, you'll find concrete "basically the way it was when it was poured 2,000 years ago," said John Oleson, an archaeologist at the University of Victoria in Canada.
Also read: Can Earthquakes Really be Predicted?
Most modern concrete starts with Portland cement, a powder made by heating limestone and clay to super-high temperatures and grinding them up. That cement is mixed with water to create a chemically reactive paste. Then, chunks of material like rock and gravel are added, and the cement paste binds them into a concrete mass.
According to records from ancient architects like Vitruvius, the Roman process was similar. The ancient builders mixed materials like burnt limestone and volcanic sand with water and gravel, creating chemical reactions to bind everything together.
Now, scientists think they've found a key reason why some Roman concrete has held up structures for thousands of years: The ancient material has an unusual power to repair itself. Exactly how is not yet clear, but scientists are starting to find clues.
In a study published earlier this year, Admir Masic, a civil and environmental engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, proposed that this power comes from chunks of lime that are studded throughout the Roman material instead of being mixed in evenly. Researchers used to think these chunks were a sign that the Romans weren't mixing up their materials well enough.
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Instead, after analyzing concrete samples from Privernum — an ancient city outside of Rome — the scientists found that the chunks could fuel the material's "self-healing" abilities. When cracks form, water is able to seep into the concrete, Masic explained. That water activates the leftover pockets of lime, sparking up new chemical reactions that can fill in the damaged sections.
Marie Jackson, a geologist at the University of Utah, has a different take. Her research has found that the key could be in the specific volcanic materials used by the Romans.
The builders would gather volcanic rocks left behind after eruptions to mix into their concrete. This naturally reactive material changes over time as it interacts with the elements, Jackson said, allowing it to seal cracks that develop.
The ability to keep adapting over time "is truly the genius of the material," Jackson said. "The concrete was so well designed that it sustains itself."
Using tree juice to make sculptures as strong as seashells
At Copan, a Maya site in Honduras, intricate lime sculptures and temples remain intact even after more than 1,000 years exposed to a hot, humid environment. And according to a study published earlier this year, the secret to these structures' longevity might lie in the trees that sprout among them.
Researchers here had a living link to the structures' creators: They met with local masons in Honduras who traced their lineage all the way back to the Mayan builders, explained Rodriguez-Navarro, who worked on the study.
The masons suggested using extracts from local chukum and jiote trees in the lime mix. When researchers tested out the recipe — collecting bark, putting the chunks in water and adding the resulting tree "juice" into the material — they found the resulting plaster was especially durable against physical and chemical damage.
Also read: Earthquake Safety Tips for Parents to Keep Children Safe
When scientists zoomed in, they saw that bits of organic material from the tree juice got incorporated into the plaster's molecular structure. In this way, the Mayan plaster was able to mimic sturdy natural structures like seashells and sea urchin spines — and borrow some of their toughness, Rodriguez-Navarro said.
Studies have found all kinds of natural materials mixed into structures from long ago: fruit extracts, milk, cheese curd, beer, even dung and urine. The mortar that holds together some of China's most famous structures — including the Great Wall and the Forbidden City — includes traces of starch from sticky rice.
Luck or skill?
Some of these ancient builders might have just gotten lucky, said Cecilia Pesce, a materials scientist at the University of Sheffield in England. They'd toss just about anything into their mixes, as long as it was cheap and available — and the ones that didn't work out have long since collapsed.
"They would put all sorts of things in construction," Pesce said. "And now, we only have the buildings that survived. So it's like a natural selection process."
But some materials seem to show more intention — like in India, where builders crafted blends of local materials to produce different properties, said Thirumalini Selvaraj, a civil engineer and professor at India's Vellore Institute of Technology.
According to Selvaraj's research, in humid areas of India, builders used local herbs that help structures deal with moisture. Along the coast, they added jaggery, an unrefined sugar, which can help protect from salt damage. And in areas with higher earthquake risks, they used super-light "floating bricks" made with rice husks.
"They know the region, they know the soil condition, they know the climate," Selvaraj said. "So they engineer a material according to this."
Ancient Roman ... skyscrapers?
Today's builders can't just copy the ancient recipes. Even though Roman concrete lasted a long time, it couldn't hold up heavy loads: "You couldn't build a modern skyscraper with Roman concrete," Oleson said. "It would collapse when you got to the third story."
Instead, researchers are trying to take some of the ancient material's specialties and add them into modern mixes. Masic is part of a startup that is trying to build new projects using Roman-inspired, "self-healing" concrete. And Jackson is working with the Army Corps of Engineers to design concrete structures that can hold up well in seawater — like the ones in Roman ports — to help protect coastlines from sea level rise.
We don't need to make things last quite as long as the Romans did to have an impact, Masic said. If we add 50 or 100 years to concrete's lifespan, "we will require less demolition, less maintenance and less material in the long run."
Study on dengue vaccine shows promising result in Bangladesh
A dengue vaccine, which has been tested in a clinical study in Bangladesh, is showing encouraging results in combating the viral disease.
In a groundbreaking collaboration, researchers from icddr,b (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh) and the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont (UVM), USA have embarked on the first study of a promising tetravalent dengue vaccine in dengue-endemic Bangladesh, according to a press release on Thursday.
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Their efforts, centred around evaluating the single-dose tetravalent dengue vaccine candidate TV005, have yielded promising results, demonstrating safety and immune responsiveness in both children and adults. These findings have been published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, it said.
Lead investigator and senior scientist D. Rashidul Haque of icddr,b emphasised on the critical importance of this work for Bangladesh, a nation plagued by severe dengue outbreaks.
Dr Kirkpatrick from UVM highlighted TV005's unique features, including its single-dose administration and its ability to stimulate immune responses against all four dengue serotypes, making it a promising candidate for endemic regions like South Asia.
Also read: 10 Dengue Myths Debunked: Here are the Facts
As of September 25, 2023, the ongoing outbreak has resulted in 190,758 hospitalizations and over 920 deaths throughout Bangladesh. Currently, fluid management and symptom control are the only available treatments, underscoring the urgency of developing a tetravalent dengue vaccine.
The icddr,b and UVM research teams initiated the "Dengue in Dhaka Initiative (DIDI)" in 2015, marking the first research endeavor on dengue vaccines in Bangladesh.
Their collaborative efforts aimed to advance dengue vaccine development across the country. The study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases represented a significant phase II randomized and controlled clinical trial, said the release.
Also read: Special mosquitoes are being bred to fight dengue. How the old enemies are now becoming allies
Over three years, starting in 2016, nearly 200 volunteers across four age groups (1-49 years) received either the TV005 vaccine or a placebo. TV005 proved well-tolerated, with most volunteers developing antibodies to all four dengue serotypes, especially those with previous dengue exposure. While the study wasn't designed to assess efficacy, no dengue cases were reported among vaccinated individuals. These results bring the TV005 vaccine closer to widespread use, paving the way for large-scale phase III efficacy trials, it also said.
UVM's Vaccine Testing Centre (VTC) has been evaluating dengue vaccines developed by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 2009. The UVM team, led by Dr Kirkpatrick, collaborated closely with experts like Dr Stephen Whitehead, who played a crucial role in designing the TV005 vaccine. This collaboration has contributed significantly to dengue vaccine research in the United States and beyond, added the release.
Several pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi and Takeda, have also made progress with tetravalent dengue vaccines, completing their own phase III trials.
Operation to extract American researcher from one of the world's deepest caves advances to 700m
Rescue teams on Sunday in Turkey successfully carried an American researcher up from the depth of a cave at 1040 meters (3412.07 feet) to the 700-meter (2296.59 feet) mark where he will rest at a base camp before they continue the taxing journey to the surface.
An experienced caver, Mark Dickey, 40, started vomiting on Sept. 2 because of stomach bleeding while on an expedition with a handful of others in the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains, one of the deepest in the world, according to experts.
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A rescue operation began Saturday afternoon with doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers from across Europe rushing to help. They set up small medical base camps at various levels along the shaft, providing Dickey an opportunity to rest during the slow and arduous extrication.
“Mark was delivered to the campsite at -700 meters as of 03:24 local time (GMT+3). At this stage, he will set out again after resting and having the necessary treatments,” the Speleological Federation of Turkey wrote on its official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Turkish authorities said there are 190 personnel from eight countries taking part in the operation, 153 of them search and rescue experts.
Read: New crew for the space station launches with 4 astronauts from 4 countries
The most challenging part of the rescue operation is widening the narrow cave passages to allow stretcher lines to pass through at low depths, Yusuf Ogrenecek of the speleological federation previously said.
The extraction is expected to take up to 10 days depending on his condition.
ISRO Chandrayaan-3: 9 Women Scientists Who Led India’s Moon Landing
Roles assumed by women have undergone a profound evolution. Transitioning from traditional nurturing responsibilities, they have emerged as indispensable contributors across diverse domains, including science and technology. Chandrayaan-3 hailed the women scientists who led India’s moon landing. This article serves as a tribute to the female engineers who orchestrated the expedition, making groundbreaking history.
Groundbreaking Chandrayaan-3 mission
ISRO, or the Indian Space Research Organisation, is India's national space agency. Chandrayaan-3 marks the third chapter in its lunar exploration saga through the Chandrayaan program. Its purpose is to explore the moon's surface, study lunar composition, and demonstrate soft landing capabilities.
Embarking on a transformative lunar exploration journey, Chandrayaan-3 stands as a testament to India's space ambitions. Launched on July 14, 2023, from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, this mission is an extension of ISRO's lunar program, aiming to explore the moon's mysteries with precision.
Read more: 3 Bangladeshi women make it to list of top 100 Asian scientists
The mission comprises the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover, symbolising technological innovation. The propulsion module facilitated the lunar orbit insertion, a crucial step, achieved on August 5, 2023. This propelled the spacecraft into an orbit around the moon, preparing for a historic lunar landing.
Vikram, equipped with four landing legs and thrusters, carries both Pragyan and scientific instruments for lunar analysis. Pragyan, the six-wheeled rover, embarked on an odyssey across the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-3's triumphant lunar descent on August 23, 2023 showcased India's prowess in soft landings. With meticulous calculations, Vikram achieved a controlled touchdown, setting the stage for Pragyan's mission.
Read more: New crew for the space station launches with 4 astronauts from 4 countries
Pioneering Women Scientists behind Chandrayaan-3 Mission
Within Chandrayaan-3's celestial voyage, a constellation of remarkable women scientists emerges. This assembly of 54 adept female engineers and scientists exemplifies the culmination of scientific excellence intertwined with relentless determination. Here are the nine leading women scientists who were part of India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission.
Ritu Karidhal Srivastava
This accomplished Indian scientist and aerospace engineer started on her ISRO journey in 1997. As the Deputy Operations Director of India's Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan), she played a pivotal role in orchestrating the spacecraft's autonomy system. It enables the spaceship to navigate space autonomously and respond to anomalies with precision.
Fondly referred to as one of India's "Rocket Women," Ritu's contributions were undeniable in propelling India into the exclusive league of space explorers. Her expertise resonates in conceptualizing and executing the craft's onward autonomy system. It was a cornerstone of the mission's success.
Read more: 10 Greatest Female Scientists of All Time
Kalpana Kalahasti
Kalpana, armed with an aeronautical engineering degree from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, entered ISRO in 2003 as a scientist. Her illustrious career includes diverse satellite projects, including communication and remote sensing satellites. This expertise has transformed India's capabilities in data collection and communication.
The significant milestones of her career include Mars Orbiter Mission and Chandrayaan-2. Her ingenious design of propulsion systems and imaging equipment exemplified her engineering prowess. Notably, her integral role in the Chandrayaan-2 and Mangalyaan missions underscores her versatility and indelible contributions.
Dr. V. R. Lalithambika
Dr. V. R. Lalithambika, a stalwart since 1988, carved her niche in the realm of Advanced Launcher Technologies. Her journey with ISRO commenced at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), where she joined as a young engineer. Over the years, she led a team that designed rocket control and guidance systems, an integral aspect of mission success. Her expertise spans over a hundred space missions, reflecting her adeptness in engineering and leadership.
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New crew for the space station launches with 4 astronauts from 4 countries
Four astronauts from four countries rocketed toward the International Space Station on Saturday.
They should reach the orbiting lab in their SpaceX capsule Sunday, replacing four astronauts living up there since March.
A NASA astronaut was joined on the predawn liftoff from Kennedy Space Center by fliers from Denmark, Japan and Russia. They clasped one another's gloved hands upon reaching orbit.
Read: India’s lunar mission inches towards historic success
It was the first U.S. launch where every spacecraft seat was occupied by a different country — until now, NASA had always included two or three of its own on its SpaceX taxi flights. A fluke in timing led to the assignments, officials said.
“We're a united team with a common mission,” NASA's Jasmin Moghbeli radioed from orbit.
Moghbeli, a Marine pilot serving as commander, said her crew’s makeup demonstrates “what we can do when we work together in harmony.” With her on the six-month mission are the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen, Japan’s Satoshi Furukawa and Russia’s Konstantin Borisov.
“To explore space, we need to do it together,” the European Space Agency's director general, Josef Aschbacher, said minutes before liftoff. “Space is really global, and international cooperation is key.”
The astronauts' paths to space couldn’t be more different.
Moghbeli’s parents fled Iran during the 1979 revolution. Born in Germany and raised on New York’s Long Island, she joined the Marines and flew attack helicopters in Afghanistan. The first-time space traveler hopes to show Iranian girls that they, too, can aim high. “Belief in yourself is something really powerful,” she said before the flight.
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Mogensen worked on oil rigs off the West African coast after getting an engineering degree. He told people puzzled by his job choice that “in the future we would need drillers in space” like Bruce Willis' character in the killer asteroid film “Armageddon." He’s convinced the rig experience led to his selection as Denmark’s first astronaut.
Furukawa spent a decade as a surgeon before making Japan’s astronaut cut. Like Mogensen, he’s visited the station before.
Borisov, a space rookie, turned to engineering after studying business. He runs a freediving school in Moscow and judges the sport, in which divers shun oxygen tanks and hold their breath underwater.
Read: China launches new crew for space station, with eye to putting astronauts on moon before 2030
One of the perks of an international crew, they noted, is the food. Among the delicacies soaring: Persian herbed stew, Danish chocolate and Japanese mackerel.
SpaceX's first-stage booster returned to Cape Canaveral several minutes after liftoff, an extra treat for the thousands of spectators gathered in the early-morning darkness. Liftoff had been delayed a day for additional data reviews of the capsule's life-support system.
Another NASA astronaut will launch to the station from Kazakhstan in mid-September under a barter agreement, along with two Russians.
SpaceX has now launched eight crews for NASA. Boeing was hired at the same time nearly a decade ago, but has yet to fly astronauts. Its crew capsule is grounded until 2024 by parachute and other issues.
Read: Green comet zooming our way, last visited 50,000 years ago
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
India’s lunar mission inches towards historic success
The Moon's little-explored South Pole is where India's third lunar mission is eyeing to land a lander and rover on August 23.
Also read: Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter detects solar proton events: Space Agency ISRO
The lander, Chandrayaan 3, started its final stage of the mission on Thursday when it separated from the propulsion module that had been bringing it near the Moon, reports BBC.
Read also: Isro locates Chandrayaan-2 lander on Moon, but yet to make contact
However, a Russian spaceship is also voyaging towards the moon’s South Pole, it said.
Luna-25 is Russia’s first moon mission since 1976, when the country was a part of the Soviet Union.
Also read: India's 3rd lunar mission may spill over to 2021
The Luna-25, which was launched last week, is set to make a soft landing on August 21 or August 22.
If Luna-25 succeeds in making the soft landing as scheduled, Chandrayaan-3 will have to settle for being a close second, said the report.
However, the much-anticipated Chandrayaan 3’s landing will bring India into the list of nations—the US, the former Soviet Union, and China—that made it to the lunar surface, the report also said.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft was launched on July 14 but made several Earth orbits before entering lunar orbit on August 5. Since then, the spacecraft has been circling the Moon in preparation for the landing, said the report.
There has been talk of a "mini space race" as both Russian and Indian spacecraft are inching towards history together, it added.
The Indian Space Research Organisation, however, is keen to call it a new "meeting point" on the moon rather than a race.
"Isro has never been in any race, right from the day one of its inception in the 1960s," an Isro spokesman told the BBC.