Chandrayaan-3 all set to make lunar manoeuvre

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been providing public updates about the status of Chandrayaan-3’s trajectory towards the moon. The latest update is that the orbit circularisation phase has commenced. Through accurate navigation of the rover an almost circular orbit of 150 km x 177 km has been achieved. The next stage of the operations would be performed on August 16th, 2023 at 8:30 am. The current set of operations were carried out between 11:30 am and 12:30 am on August 14th. The speed of the rover has to be gradually brought down in order to aid the landing.

Chandrayaan entered lunar orbit on August 5th. After entering the lunar orbit, this has been the 3rd navigation of the rover. The first navigation was carried out on August 6th to achieve reduction of orbit. The 2nd operation was carried out on August 9th. At the current rate Chandrayaan would be within a 100 kilometre radius of the moon by August 17th.

Chairman of ISRO, S.Somanath has expressed that these positive developments have instilled further confidence that the project would be successful. He highlighted the developments with regard to the launch of GSAT-24. Apart milestone in India’s advancement in space research this would also improve the DTH coverage across the nation.