'I am feeling lunar gravity': Chandrayaan-3's message to ISRO as it enters Moon's orbit
India’s third unmanned Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 successfully entered the lunar orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Saturday.
FollowThe third unmanned Moon mission from India, Chandrayaan-3, successfully reached the lunar orbit on Saturday, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It took place 22 days after the spacecraft had been launched on a far longer and more difficult 41-day journey to the lunar south pole, where no other country had ever gone before.
The satellite sent a communication to the ISRO's facilities that said: "MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity". From the space station in Bengaluru, the necessary movement that moved it closer to the moon was executed without a hitch. A significant accomplishment in the ambitious Rs 600 billion programme of the space agency was the insertion into lunar orbit.
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“Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit. A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC, Bengaluru," the space agency said, adding, “The next operation - reduction of orbit – is scheduled for Aug 6, 2023, around 23:00 Hrs. IST."
According to the ISRO, the next operation, a lowering of orbit, will take place at 11 PM on Sunday.
There will be three additional manoeuvres after tomorrow's Sunday manoeuvre until August 17, after which the Landing Module Vikram, which is now housing the rover Pragyan, will separate from the Propulsion Module. After that, the lander will perform de-orbiting manoeuvres before making the final powered drop to the moon.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has travelled around two-thirds of the distance to the Moon since its launch on July 14. ISRO has carried out five tactical manoeuvres over the last three weeks to progressively elevate the spacecraft into orbits that are further and farther away from Earth. On August 1, a vital slingshot operation was executed successfully, launching the spaceship from Earth's orbit and towards the Moon.
