Today is the planned day for the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3 to split from the spacecraft’s propulsion module. On August 23, the Pragyaan lander and rover are planned to touch down on the Moon. The Pragyaan rover, which will deploy its equipment to investigate seismic activity on the lunar surface, will be photographed by the Vikram lander when it lands on the Moon.
Yesterday, India’s ambitious Chandrayaan-3 moon mission successfully completed its fifth and final lunar-bound orbit manoeuvre, advancing its spacecraft even closer to the Moon’s surface.
The spacecraft will now get ready to detach the Vikram lander from the propulsion module after finishing its lunar-bound manoeuvres.
“Today’s successful firing, which was required for a brief period of time, successfully placed Chandrayaan-3 into the planned orbit of 153 km by 163 km. The lunar-bound manoeuvres are finished with this. As the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module get ready for their respective trips, it’s time for preparations, ISRO posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On July 14, the LVM3 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota launched Chandrayaan-3 into orbit. On August 5, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit; on August 23, it is anticipated to touch down on the Moon.
Yesterday, ISRO successfully completed all lunar-bound manoeuvres to position the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into a 153 by 163 km circular orbit around the Moon.
The propulsion module will keep travelling in the same orbit once the Vikram lander separates from the spaceship. The Vikram lander will then make an attempt at a soft landing on the Moon’s surface on August 23.
The rover Pragyaan, which will use its laser beams to melt a portion of the lunar surface known as regolith and study the gases generated in the process, will be photographed by the lander Vikram.
