The Vikram lander has been separated from the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. Know here the next step for India's lunar mission.
India's Chandrayaan-3 mission marked a major milestone on Thursday as the Vikram Lander module successfully separated from the propulsion module. The Chandrayaan-3 was launched from the surface of Earth on July 14 for the first even Lunar landing on the north pole of Earth's only natural satellite.
On August 5, it entered the Lunar orbit. Since then the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, GSLV Mark 3, has made multiple orbital manoeuvres and is now finally going to make a touchdown on the lunar surface.
What is next for Chandrayaan-3?
The lander will embark on an independent journey to achieve touchdown on the lunar surface. The onboard instruments will be activated and validated encompassing three pivotal scientific payloads.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft will engage in two successive orbit-reduction manoeuvres. The first of the three manoeuvres will place the lander into a circular orbit at 100*100 km above the Moon. The main aim of the spacecraft is to achieve a soft landing on a designated lunar site.
Read: Chandrayaan-3 marks giant leap, lander successfully separates from spacecraft
About Vikram Lander
The Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander is named after Vikram Sarabhai (1919–1971), who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programme. On Wednesday, the spacecraft carried out the final lunar-bound orbit reduction manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, a week ahead of its scheduled landing on the south pole of the moon on August 23.
The approved cost of Chandrayaan-3 is Rs 250 crore. Its development phase commenced in January 2020 with the launch planned in 2021. However, due to the hit of the Covid-19 pandemic, the project was delayed.
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 "Chandrayaan-3, Lander Module, Propulsion Module, Separation, Lunar Journey, Moon Mission, ISRO, Soft Landing on Moon, Moon’s Orb")
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