The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday achieved yet another historic feat as Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully entered the Moon's orbit post 7pm IST. The spacecraft's lander is expected to touch down on Moon's surface on August 23.
The manoeuvre was performed at point when Chandrayaan-3's orbit was closest to the Moon, ISRO said.
The space agency earlier said that the health of the spacecraft is normal and a soft-landing on the lunar surface would be attempted on August 23.
The spacecraft's orbit was progressively increased five times after the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon was launched on July 14.
“MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity," ISRO tweeted after the entry.
"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 next operation - reduction of orbit – is scheduled for Aug 6, 2023, around 23:00 Hrs. IST," ISRO further informed.
Chandrayaan Mission Details
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft was put into orbit on July 15, 2023 in a copybook style by India’s heavy lift rocket LVM3.
On the same day, the first orbit raising was done and the second orbit raising was carried out on July 17, 2023.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft comprises a propulsion module (weighing 2,148 kg), a lander (1,723.89 kg) and a rover (26 kg), the ISRO said. The main object of the mission is to safely land the lander on the lunar soil.
The lander will get separated from the propulsion module a couple of days after it enters lunar orbit. The lander is expected to make a soft-landing near the South Pole of the moon on August 23 evening at 5.47 p.m.
