Highlights :
- On July 14, it took out from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
- ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network carried out the LOI manoeuvre.
- The mission’s goal is to show India’s capacity to land safely and softly on the Moon.
A key step towards India’s goal of a lunar landing in the coming days has been made with the successful entry of Chandrayaan-3, the country’s third lunar mission, into the Moon’s orbit. The Lunar Orbit Injection (LOI), which placed the spacecraft into a reliable lunar orbit, was carried out, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), at 7 pm IST.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on the LVM-3 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 14, 2023, and has travelled more than three lakh km between the Earth and the Moon. On August 1, the spacecraft started its trans-lunar trip towards the Moon after completing its orbits around the Earth.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
The spacecraft has covered about two-thirds of the distance to the moon.Lunar Orbit Injection (LOI) set for Aug 5, 2023, around 19:00 Hrs. IST. pic.twitter.com/MhIOE65w3V
— ISRO (@isro) August 4, 2023
ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru carried out the LOI manoeuvre.
The spacecraft’s velocity was decreased during this key manoeuvre, which allowed the Moon’s gravitational field to pull it into a stable lunar orbit. In the days that will follow, a series of manoeuvres are planned to progressively lower the spacecraft’s height as it moves in an elliptical orbit around the Moon. India has moved one step closer to joining the US, China, and Russia as the fourth nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the lunar surface with Chandrayaan-3’s successful entrance into the Moon’s orbit.
Following the difficulties encountered with the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019, the project intends to show that India is capable of making a safe and gentle landing on the lunar surface.
The propulsion module will separate from the lander in the following phase of the mission, which will continue its ascent to the lunar south pole. On August 23, a soft landing will take place on the lunar surface. A lander, a rover, and a propulsion module totaling about 3,900 kilogrammes are included aboard Chandrayaan-3. The onboard scientific equipment will examine the Moon’s surface and take measurements of the near-surface plasma density, the temperature characteristics of the lunar surface close to the poles, the seismic activity around the landing location, and the elemental makeup of the Moon’s soil.
Chandrayaan-3’s successful lunar orbit insertion is a major accomplishment for ISRO and the whole country. The globe anxiously anticipates the results of this enormous mission as the spacecraft starts its voyage around the Moon.
