19 August,2019 01:56 PM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
A view of the Chandrayaan-2 on board GSLVMkIII-M1 at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Nellore district, Saturday, July 13, 2019. Pic/PTI
In a significant milestone for India's Moon mission, ISRO will fire Chandrayaan-2's liquid engine on Tuesday to insert the spacecraft into a lunar orbit. Following this, there will be further four orbit manoeuvres to make the spacecraft enter into its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from Moon's surface, ISRO has said. Let's have a look at the Chandrayaan-2's journey so far:
India's second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22 from the spaceport in Sriharikota. The three-stage rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 blasted off at 2.43 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre amid cloudy skies, a week after the earlier launch was called off on July 15 following a technical snag observed during the propellant filling stage.
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The three-component Chandrayaan-2 comprising an orbiter, a lander and a rover is to undergo 15 crucial manoeuvres before landing on the moon. It is billed as the most prestigious and complex mission undertaken by ISRO since its inception and will make India the fourth country to soft-land a rover on the lunar surface after Russia, the United States and China.
The launch vehicle lifted-off at 2.43 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre into cloudy skies and successfully placed the 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2 into the Earth orbit 16.42 minutes later. Immediately after Chandrayaan-2's separation from the rocket, its solar array automatically got deployed and the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru successfully took control of the spacecraft, Indian Space Research Organisation informed. A visibly relieved Sivan, who announced the success of the mission, said, "It is the beginning of a historical journey of India towards the moon... We bounced back in flying colours after the earlier technical snag".
The second earth bound orbit-raising maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performed successfully on July 26, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed in a statement. "Second earth bound orbit-raising maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has been performed successfully today (July 26, 2019) at 0108 hrs (IST) as planned, using the onboard propulsion system for a firing duration of 883 seconds. The orbit achieved is 251 x 54829 km. All spacecraft parameters are normal.," ISRO said in its statement.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out the fourth earth bound orbit-raising maneuver for Chandryaan-2 spacecraft. "Fourth earthbound orbit-raising maneuver for Chandryaan-2 spacecraft has been performed successfully today (August 2, 2019) at 1527 hrs (IST) as planned, using the onboard propulsion system for a firing duration of 646 seconds. The orbit achieved is 277 x 89472 km. All spacecraft parameters are normal," the space agency said in a statement.
Chandrayaan-2 successfully performed five earthbound orbit-raising maneauver on August 6, stated the Indian Space Research Organisation. "Fifth earthbound orbit-raising maneuver for #Chandrayaan2 spacecraft has been performed today (August 6, 2019) at 1504 hrs (IST) as planned," tweeted ISRO. The space agency added, "Using the onboard propulsion system for a firing duration of 1041 seconds. The orbit achieved is 276 x 142975 km. All spacecraft parameters are normal."
Chandrayaan-2 on August 14 carried out a crucial process to manoeuvre India's second lunar probe out of the earth's orbit after it was headed onwards its path to the moon after the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The space agency stated it carried out the manoeuvre called Trans Lunar Insertion (TLI) at 2.21 am today just as planned. "The final orbit raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was successfully carried out today at 02:21 am IST. During this manoeuvre, the spacecraft's liquid engine was fired for about 1203 seconds. With this, Chandrayaan-2 entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory," ISRO said in a statement.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) stated that Chandrayaan-2, India's indigenous moon mission is on course to land on the lunar south polar region on September 7. "Hello! This is Chandrayaan 2 with a special update. I wanted to let everyone back home know that it has been an amazing journey for me so far and I am on course to land on the lunar south polar region on 7th September. To know where I am and what I'm doing, stay tuned," the official Twitter handle of ISRO shared a post.
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