The Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) in a tweet on Wednesday revealed that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has successfully completed the final lunar bound maneuvre. In its tweet, the Indian space agency said that the successful firing, which was required for a short duration, has put the spacecraft into an intended orbit of 153 km x 163 km, bringing it even closer to the lunar surface.
“It’s time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module gear up for their separate journeys,” ISRO added. Next, the separation of the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module has been planned for Thursday, August 17.
The Chandrayaan-3 was launched last month on July 14 and will attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface on August 23.
It first entered lunar orbit on August 5. After this, it carried out three successive orbit reduction maneuvers on August 6, 9 and 14 as it inched closer to the Moon.
Following today’s maneuver, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh tweeted, “A step closer towards the MOON!”
Chandrayaan-3 mission
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission is the country’s third lunar mission and a follow up of the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission. If India successfully achieves soft-landing this time, it will become the first country to soft-land near the South Pole. The Chandrayaan-2 mission failed partially after its lander and rover failed to carry out a soft-landing on the Moon.
As India inches closer to the lunar surface, Russia launched a lunar mission bound for the South Pole as well on August 11, igniting a race with India. The mission is Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976.
