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Chandrayaan-2 successfully performs second de-orbiting manoeuvre ahead of moon landing

Earlier on Tuesday, Chandrayaan-2 had successfully performed its first de-orbiting manoeuvre.

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A view of the Control Centre at ISTRAC before the first landing manoeuvre on Tuesday. (Photo: ISRO)
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The second de-orbiting manoeuvre for the Chandrayan-2 spacecraft was performed successfully today (Wednesday, September 4), beginning at 3:42 AM as planned, using the onboard propulsion system, said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The duration of the manoeuvre was nine seconds. This brings the mission one step closer to landing on the moon.

The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter continues to orbit the moon in an orbit of 96 km x 125 km and both the Orbiter and Lander are healthy, informed the organisation.

With this manoeuvre, the required orbit for the Vikram Lander to commence it descent towards the surface of the Moon is achieved. The Lander is scheduled to powered descent between 0100 - 0200 hrs IST on September 07, 2019, which is then followed by touch down of Lander between 0130 - 0230 hrs IST

Earlier on Tuesday, Chandrayaan-2 had successfully performed its first de-orbiting manoeuvre.

A former NASA astronaut Donald A Thomas said that when India's ambitious lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 will land on the surface of the moon then everyone at America's space agency and people around the world would be watching it.

"Chandrayaan-2 will be the first spacecraft to land near the South pole of the moon and this is where NASA hopes to land astronaut in about five years from now. Not just NASA, but the whole world would be interested in knowing about the moon and the universe by following Chandrayaan-2," he said.

Thomas said while speaking to reporters after attending an event at Park College of Engineering and Technology near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

He explained, "We have landed near the equator of the moon before but never at the South Pole. The South pole is a very special location, we think there is ice in some of the craters that are permanently shadowed."

"If we find ice there then we can have water and from that Oxygen and Hydrogen," he added.

Earlier on Monday, the Vikram Lander had successfully separated from the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter.

The spacecraft will be the first Indian expedition to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface. This mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to conduct a soft landing on the moon.

After revolving around the Earth's orbit for nearly 23 days, the craft began its journey to the moon on August 14.

The mission took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 22 and is expected to land on September 7.

 

(With agency inputs)

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