The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) third lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3 successfully entered the moon’s sphere of influence with normal health on Tuesday.
The spacecraft had earlier completed its orbits around the Earth and headed towards the moon.
As of now, the spacecraft’s perigee burn has successfully raised its orbit to 288km x 369328 km. This is the orbit, in which it enters the moon’s sphere of influence.
ISRO on August 1 performed the Trans Lunar Injection (TLI), a propulsive manoeuvre to slingshot the spacecraft towards the Moon from Earth’s orbit.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:The spacecraft’s health is normal.
Today’s perigee burn has successfully raised Chandrayaan-3 orbit to 288 km x 369328 km.
In this orbit, the spacecraft enters the moon’s sphere of influence.
A crucial maneuvre at perilune would achieve the Lunar…
— ISRO (@isro) August 1, 2023
A successful perigee-firing performed at ISTRAC, ISRO has injected the spacecraft into the translunar orbit.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14 into an orbit around Earth and has been slowly boosting its orbit ahead of a final shot toward the moon.
Where is the spacecraft headed?
The spacecraft has begun its journey towards the Moon on Tuesday as the TLI manoeuvre placed it on ‘lunar transfer trajectory’.
The Chandrayaan-3 is expected to reach the lunar orbit on August 5 and the spacecraft’s liquid engine will be fired again to insert the spacecraft into a lunar orbit.
The Chandrayaan will then orbit the moon four times and get closer to the lunar surface with each loop. Once the craft is in the lunar orbit, the Lander will separate from the Propulsion Module and attempt a soft landing near the South Pole of the moon on August 23 evening at 5.47 pm.
WHAT IS CHANDRAYAAN-3?
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is the third lunar exploration mission planned by ISRO. It serves as a continuation of the Chandrayaan-2 mission and aims to showcase the complete capability of safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
The need for Chandrayaan-3 arose after the unsuccessful landing of the Vikram lander during Chandrayaan-2. This new mission is designed to demonstrate the essential landing skills required for the proposed lunar polar exploration mission in 2024, which India intends to carry out in collaboration with Japan.
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