Chandrayaan-3 Mission- Spacecraft completed its fifth and final orbit-raising manoeuvre; Tweets ISRO

• Image Credit: Twitter

• Jul 25, 2023 | Poonam Nath

Chandrayaan-3 completes its final earthbound orbit-raising manoeuvre before entering lunar orbit...

Digital Desk: On Tuesday, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft performed its fifth and final orbit-raising operation in preparation for lunar insertion. The next phase is to switch to an Earth-to-Moon trajectory, where the gravity of the Moon will eventually draw it into lunar orbit. The ultimate goal is to land softly on the lunar surface.

"The orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earth-bound perigee firing) was successfully completed from ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru." The spacecraft will reach an orbit of 127609 km x 236 km. "After the observations, the achieved orbit will be confirmed," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) tweeted.

The next firing, the TransLunar Injection (TLI), is scheduled for August 1 between 12 midnight and 1 am IST.

On July 14, India's third moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota. It is scheduled to arrive at the moon's South Pole on August 23 for a gentle landing with a lander and rover.

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By doing so, India would join a select group of nations that have accomplished the accomplishment (the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China).

Next on the plate for the lunar mission for Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 has completed five orbit-raising movements around Earth and is currently scheduled to achieve an elliptical orbit with the farthest and closest points at 127,609 km x 236 km.

The spaceship will fire its thrusters on August 1 to depart Earth's gravity and head for the moon. It will then enter the gravity of the moon and travel into lunar orbit.

Chandrayaan-3 will have completed 5-6 rounds around the moon and would be approaching the innermost circle by the first week of August. It will pinpoint the exact landing site in the moon's south pole area in the next 10 days, according to Union Space Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday.