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India’s moon lander is all set to land on lunar surface on August 23, 2023, after the last deboosting operation was completed in the early hours of Sunday, according to Indian officials.
The moon lander, often known as the lander, is a component of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The spacecraft consists of a propulsion module weighing 2,148 kg, a lander weighing 1,723.89 kg, and a rover weighing 26 kg.
“The second and final deboosting operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km. The module would undergo internal checks and await the sun-rise at the designated landing site. The powered descent is expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 Hrs. IST,” ISRO tweeted.
The 25km x 134km was completed on Sunday at 1.50 a.m.
The primary goal of India’s third moon mission, which would cost over Rs 600 crore, is to softly land the lander on the moon.
The Chandrayaan-2 mission was aborted when the lander dubbed ‘Vikram’ collided with the moon.
According to the ISRO, the lander will make a soft touchdown near the moon’s South Pole on August 23 around 5.47 p.m.
The lander will drop to the moon from a height of around 100 kilometers above the moon’s surface.
The soft landing is a difficult issue because it requires a sequence of sophisticated maneuvers that include both rough and precise braking.
Prior to landing, imaging of the landing site region will be done for finding safe and hazard-free zones.
Following the soft landing, the six-wheeled rover will roll out and conduct experiments on the lunar surface for one lunar day (14 earth days).
Meanwhile, the propulsion module will continue to orbit the moon, with its cargo Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planetary Earth (SHAPE) doing its duties.
The Chandrayaan-3 was launched into orbit on July 14 by India’s heavy lift rocket LVM3.
On August 1, the spacecraft completed its orbit around the Earth and began its journey to the moon.
The ISRO injected the spacecraft into translunar orbit on that day after a successful perigee-firing at ISTRAC.
Source:IANS
