Chandrayaan-3 successfully enters lunar orbit: ISRO

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India’s ambitious third moon mission, Chandrayaan-3 has successfully entered the lunar orbit on Saturday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed through its Twitter.

The required maneuver was done from an ISRO facility stationed in Bengaluru, the city-headquartered space agency said.

“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 ( ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network ), Bengaluru,” the agency said in a tweet.

Perilune is the spacecraft’s closest point to the moon.

The next operation after entering lunar orbit is the reduction of orbit which the agency believes should be done at 11 PM on Sunday.

ISRO also shared a message about its achievement from the satellite to its centres: “MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity.”

On August 1 in a key maneuver, a slingshot move, the craft was sent successfully towards the Moon from Earth’s orbit.

Following this trans-lunar injection, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft escaped from orbiting the Earth and began following a path that would take it to the moon’s vicinity.

During the past three weeks, ISRO has executed a series of strategic moves, progressively increasing the spacecraft’s distance from Earth. Notably, on August 1, a crucial slingshot manoeuvre was successfully employed to propel the craft from Earth’s orbit toward the Moon.

After completing trans-lunar injection, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft transitioned from Earth’s orbit and began its trajectory towards the Moon.

The soft landing, the most challenging part of the mission, is planned for August 23. Chandrayaan 2 could not achieve this objective when communication with the Lander ‘Vikram’ was lost.

If success is achieved, Chandrayaan-3 will mark India’s entry into an elite club of countries comprising the US, Russia and China that have successfully accomplished lunar landings. (ET)