• Source:JND
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Chandrayaan-3 Mission: The second de-boosting operation of India’s Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 was successfully completed on Sunday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said it successfully reduced the orbit of the Chandrayaan-3 mission's Lander Module (LM), further bringing it nearer to the moon. The space agency also added that the LM would now undergo internal checks. The lander Vikram’s orbit has now been reduced to 25 km x 134 km.

ISRO said that the LM, comprising the lander ‘Vikram’ and rover ‘Pragyan’, is expected to touch down on the lunar surface on August 23.

"The second and final deboosting (slowing down) operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km. The module would undergo internal checks and await the sun-rise at the designated landing site. The powered descent is expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 Hrs IST," ISRO said in a post on 'X' (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.

 

On Thursday, the LM of Chandrayaan-3 successfully separated from the Propulsion Module, 35 days after the mission was launched on July 14.

According to media reports, ISRO said, that after the separation, the lander is expected to undergo "deboost" (the process of slowing down) operations to place it in an orbit, where the Perilune (the orbit's closest point to the Moon) is 30 kilometres and Apolune (farthest point from the Moon) is 100 km, from where the soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon will be attempted.

On Friday, the Vikram lander underwent a crucial deboosting manoeuvre and descended to a slightly lower orbit, after successfully getting separated from the propulsion module the day before.

"The Lander Module (LM) health is normal. LM successfully underwent a deboosting operation that reduced its orbit to 113 km x 157 km. The second deboosting operation is scheduled for August 20, 2023, around 0200 Hrs. IST," ISRO stated.

The space agency is trying to make a successful soft landing on the moon, which will make India the fourth country in the world to achieve the feat after the United States, Russia, and China.

The stated objectives of Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar mission, are safe and soft landing, rover roving on the moon's surface, and in-situ scientific experiments.

Chandrayaan-3 is the ISRO's follow-up attempt after the Chandrayaan-2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was eventually deemed to have failed its core mission objectives.