ISRO scientists today successfully completed the fifth and final orbit-raising manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan-3 from Earth to take the spacecraft closer to the Moon.
“The orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earth-bound perigee firing) is performed successfully from ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. The spacecraft is expected to attain an orbit of 127609 km x 236 km. The achieved orbit will be confirmed after the observations,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) tweeted.
The fifth manoeuvre happened on the 11th day after the launch of the spacecraft which sets the stage for the next phase.
ISRO said that the next firing, the TransLunar Injection (TLI), is planned for August 1, between 12 midnight and 1 am IST.
Chandrayaan-3 is expected to reach the Moon’s South Pole for a soft landing with a lander and rover on the lunar surface by August 23-24.
The successful landing will make India only the fourth country in the world after the United States, Russia and China to land a spacecraft on the surface of the moon.
Upon landing, the lander named ‘Vikram’ will deploy its four scientific payloads to study the moon’s surface temperature and subterranean characteristics. Additionally, the lander carries an instrument called ‘Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth’ (SHAPE), designed to collect data on light emission and reflection from Earth.
The 6-wheeled Rover ‘Pragyan’ will come out to explore the moon, using chemical tests, for 14 days. The Rover is equipped with multiple cameras that will send back images to earth. It is backed by a solar panel to charge its battery.
