The third lunar mission from India, Chandrayaan-3, executed another significant manoeuvre on Monday between 11:30 and 12:30, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
With the following lunar orbital manoeuver between 11:30 am and 12:30 am IST on Monday, Chandrayaan-3 will go a little bit closer to the Moon.(ISRO)
“The circularization phase of the orbit starts. Today’s precise manoeuvre resulted in a 150 km by 177 km orbit that is almost circular. The following operation is scheduled for August 16, 2023, at about 08:30 IST, according to a Monday post by the ISRO on X (previously Twitter).
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
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.The next operation to further reduce the orbit is scheduled for August 9, 2023, between… pic.twitter.com/e17kql5p4c
— ISRO (@isro) August 6, 2023
Following the appropriate manoeuvres, a precise landing location close to the “Moon’s south pole” will be selected. The lander will then descend from orbit and try to make a soft landing when the propulsion module separates from it while it is in orbit.
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What is the situation right now? When will it reach the moon?
On August 23, Chandrayaan-3 is anticipated to land on the Moon after a 40-day journey. After a manoeuvre on August 9, Chandrayaan-3’s course was changed to 174 km x 1437 km, bringing the probe even closer to the Moon’s surface.
Chandrayaan-3 mission schedule
On July 6, ISRO announced that Mission Chandrayaan-3 would take off from the second launch pad at Sriharikota on July 14.
Vehicle electrical tests were successfully finished on July 7.
On July 11, a 24-hour “Launch Rehearsal” that mimicked the whole launch procedure was conducted.
On July 14, the LVM3 M4 rocket successfully put Chandrayaan-3 into its planned orbit.
On July 15, Bengaluru witnessed the success of Earthbound Firing-1, the first orbit-raising manoeuvre. The satellite arrived at an orbit measuring 41762 km by 173 km.
On July 17, Chandrayaan-3 was placed in an orbit of 41603 km x 226 km by the second orbit-raising mission.
Earth-bound perigee firing, the fourth orbit-raising procedure, successfully positioned the spacecraft in a 71351 km x 233 km orbit on July 22.
On July 25, a second orbit-raising manoeuvre was successfully completed.
On August 1, Chandrayaan-3 reached a critical milestone when it entered a 288 km x 369328 km orbit around the moon.
On August 5, the spacecraft entered the lunar orbit at a distance of 164 km by 18074 km, marking a significant success.
On August 6, the spacecraft’s orbit around the Moon has decreased to 170 km x 4,313 km.
On August 9, Chandrayaan-3 completed another manoeuvre that reduced its distance from the Moon to 174 km x 1437 km.
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