ISRO’s ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission has been on a journey to the Moon since its launch on July 14. According to the space agency, Chandrayaan 3’s lander, with a rover accommodated inside it, is expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon around 6.04 pm on August 23.
Here is a glimpse of the journey India’s third lunar exploration venture has taken so far:
July 14: The LVM3 M4 vehicle successfully launches Chandrayaan-3 into orbit from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Chandrayaan-3 starts its journey into a precise orbit.
July 15: The first orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earthbound firing-1) was successfully performed from ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. The spacecraft is in 41762 km x 173 km orbit.
July 17: A second orbit-raising manoeuvre performed. The spacecraft is in a 41603 km x 226 km orbit.
July 22: Another orbit-raising manoeuvre completed using earth-bound perigee firing.
July 25: ISRO performs one more orbit-raising manoeuvre. The spacecraft is in a 71351 km x 233 km orbit.
August 1: ISRO performs Translunar Injection successfully and inserts the spacecraft into translunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 288 km x 369328 km.
August 5: The lunar orbit insertion of Chandrayaan-3 was performed successfully. The orbit achieved is 164 km x 18074 km, as intended.
August 6: ISRO performs the second Lunar Bound Phase (LBN). With this, the spacecraft is in a 170 km x 4313 km orbit around the Moon. The space agency releases video of the Moon as viewed by Chandrayaan-3 during lunar orbit insertion.
August 9: Chandrayaan-3’s orbit is reduced to 174 km x 1437 km after a manoeuvre is performed.
August 14: The mission is in the orbital circularization phase after another manoeuvre. The spacecraft is in a 151 km x 179 km orbit.
August 16: The spacecraft is brought down to an orbit of 153 km x 163 km after firing is completed.
August 17: The landing module is successfully separated from the propulsion module.
August 19: ISRO performs a de-boosting of the lander module to reduce its orbit. The lander module is in a 113 km x 157 km orbit around the Moon.
August 20: One more de-boosting or orbit reduction manoeuvre on the lander module is performed. The lander module is in a 25 km x 134 km orbit.
August 21: Chandrayaan-2 orbiter formally welcomes Chandrayaan-3 lander module, saying ‘Welcome, buddy!’. Two-way communication between the two has been established. The Mission Operations Complex (MOX) now has more ways to communicate with the lander module.
August 22: ISRO releases images of the Moon captured by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) of the Chandrayaan-3 mission from an altitude of about 70 km. Systems are undergoing regular checks. Smooth sailing is continuing.
August 23: A safe and soft landing of Chandrayaan-3’s lander module on the southern pole of lunar surface is expected at 6.04 pm.
