The Indian Space Research Organisation on Sunday shared the first images of the Moon captured by India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission on August 5, 2023, after entering lunar orbit.
The spacecraft entered lunar orbit 22 days after it was launched from Sriharikota in Tamil Nadu in July.
Sharing a video captured by India’s lunar spacecraft, ISRO wrote, “The Moon, as viewed by Chandrayaan3 spacecraft during Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) on August 5, 2023.”
Chandrayaan-3 enters lunar orbit
Earlier on Saturday, ISRO tweeted the message it had received from the spacecraft on Twitter, now known as ‘X’, “MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity.”
Following this on Sunday, August 6, the spacecraft successfully underwent a planned orbit reduction maneuver. In its update, ISRO said that the retofiring of engines brought the spacecraft closer to the lunar surface, which is now 170 km x 4313 km.
The next operation to further reduce the orbit is scheduled for August 9, 2023, between 1300-1400 hours (IST).
This is the third consecutive time that ISRO has successfully inserted its spacecraft in lunar orbit, apart from doing so once into the Martian orbit.
As per ISRO as the mission moves further, the agency has planned a series of maneuvers to gradually reduce the spacecraft’s orbit and position it over the lunar poles. “After some maneuvers, the propulsion module will separate from the lander while in orbit. Following that, a series of complex braking maneuvers will be executed to facilitate a soft landing in the South Polar region of the Moon on August 23, 2023,” ISRO wrote in an update.
It added that the spacecraft’s health is “normal”.
Chandrayaan-3 mission
This mission is India’s third lunar mission and a follow up of the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission which failed partially after its lander and rover failed to carry out a soft-landing on the Moon. The Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14, 2023. If India becomes successful in achieving a soft-landing, it will become the fourth country to do so. So far only the US, China and the Soviet Union have been able to achieve the feat.