ISRO’s moon mission Chandrayaan-3 has now crossed a major milestone, and is one step closer to the Moon, with big future plans for the country’s lunar mission.
In a major feat for India’s third moon mission, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has inched one step closer to the lunar surface and will be advancing onto the next step of the mission, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Moving India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft closer to the moon on Wednesday, ISRO further notified that the lander module is slated for separation from the propulsion module on Thursday. This new development has marked a major milestone in the moon mission headed by India.
“Today's successful firing, needed for a short duration, has put Chandrayaan-3 into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km, as intended. With this, the lunar bound maneuvres are completed. It's time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module gear up for their separate journeys. Separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module is planned for August 17, 2023,” the space agency said in a tweet.
According to the most recent update by ISRO, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is just 163 km away from the moon, and it entered the orbit of the moon on August 5. Since then, it has been reducing the distance between the lander and the lunar surface through a series of maneuvers.
The next step for the Chandrayaan-3 mission is the separation of the moon lander from the propulsion module so that it can make a soft landing on the lunar surface, which is the main aim of ISRO’s third moon mission.
According to the ISRO, the lander is expected to make a soft landing near the South Pole of the moon on August 23 at 5.47 p.m. The lander will descend to the moon from a height of about 100 km from the moon's surface. The soft landing is a tricky issue as it involves a series of complex maneuvers consisting of rough and fine braking.
After the lander makes contact with the lunar surface, it will conduct a series of experiments on the moon for the span of one lunar day, which is equal to 14 days on Earth.
(With inputs from agencies)
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