Chandrayaan-3 undergoes orbit reduction manoeuvre, gets closer to moon
A day after its entry into lunar orbit, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully underwent a scheduled orbit reduction maneuver, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Sunday.
By India Today Science Desk: The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully underwent a planned orbit reduction manoeuvre, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Sunday. The development in India's third moon mission came a day after the spacecraft entered the lunar orbit.
“The spacecraft successfully underwent a planned orbit reduction maneuver. The retrofiring of engines brought it closer to the Moon's surface, now to 170 km x 4313 km,” ISRO said in a tweet.
“The next operation to further reduce the orbit is scheduled for August 9, 2023, between 13:00 and 14:00 Hrs. IST,” it added in the tweet posted along with a graphic representation of the satellite’s position in space.
Three more moon-bound maneuvers are scheduled till August 17, after which the landing module (comprising the lander and rover) will separate from the propulsion module. Subsequently, de-orbiting maneuvers will be executed on the lander before its final descent on the moon's surface, with a planned soft landing attempt on August 23.
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Over three weeks since the July 14 launch, ISRO has progressively elevated the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into increasingly distant orbits from Earth. This mission, an extension of Chandrayaan-2, aims to showcase safe lunar landing and roving abilities.
Chandrayaan-3 incorporates an indigenous propulsion module, a lander module, and a rover to demonstrate vital technologies for inter-planetary missions. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover until 100 km of lunar orbit, featuring a Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload for earth observations.
The lander is equipped to gently land at a designated lunar location and deploy the rover for in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface. Both the lander and the rover carry scientific payloads for experiments on the moon's terrain.
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