Chandrayaan-3 Lander Moves Closer To Moon, Undergoes Final Deboosting Successfully
Mumbai: ISRO stated that Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) underwent its final deboosting operation that successfully reduced its orbit to 25 km x 134 km. It had undergone its first deboosting on August 18
While this activity brings the satellite closer to the moon, it is set to undergo internal checks, the space agency said. The key components of LM, Vikram (the lander) and Pragyaan (the Rover), is expected to touch down on the moon’s surface on August 23 evening, it said.
“The second and final deboosting (slowing down) 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 said in a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.
A little over 35 days after the mission’s launch on July 14th, the LM of Chandrayaan-3 successfully disengaged from the Propulsion Module on August 17th.
On August 18, the first round of deboosting occurred. Deboosting is the process of slowing down, more like operations to put it in an orbit where the soft landing on the south pole of the Moon will be performed and where the Perilune (the orbit’s closest point to the Moon) and Apolune (the orbit’s furthest point from the Moon) are 30 km and 100 km, respectively.
They added that at an altitude of about 100 m, the lander would scan the surface to see if there are any obstacles and then start descending to make a soft landing. At around 30 km altitude, the lander enters the powered braking phase and starts using its thrusters to reach the surface of the moon.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14 and reached lunar orbit on August 5. Thereafter, orbit reduction operations were performed on the spacecraft on August 6, 9, 14, and 16 in preparation for the separation of both of its modules on August 17 and the landing on August 23.
Earlier, ISRO sent the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into orbits further and farther away from Earth over the course of five maneuvers in the three weeks after the launch on July 14.
Then, on August 1, the spacecraft was successfully launched from Earth’s orbit toward the Moon in a crucial movement known as a slingshot. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft left its orbit above the Earth after its trans-lunar injection and started traveling in a direction that would bring it close to the moon.
In order to show end-to-end capabilities in safe landing and wandering on the lunar surface, Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up mission to Chandrayaan-2. The goals of Chandrayaan-3’s mission are to show a gentle and safe landing on the moon’s surface, lunar rover wandering, and in-situ scientific experimentation.
The lander has the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploys the rover that will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the Moon’s surface during the course of its mobility.
The lander and the rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.
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