ISRO to inject Chandrayaan-2 into lunar orbit on Tuesday

This picture has been used for representational purpose

Bengaluru: on Tuesday, in a significant milestone for India's Moon mission (ISRO) will fire Chandrayaan 2's liquid engine to insert the spacecraft into a lunar orbit. "It's tomorrow morning (tentatively between 8.30 am and 9.30 am). It's challenging," K Sivan, the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation told PTI on Monday. 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 added.

Subsequently, on September 2, the Vikram lander will separate from the orbiter, according to the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency. According to the news agency, PTI, on September 7, two-orbit manoeuvres will be performed on the lander before the initiation of powered descent to make a soft landing on the lunar surface, ISRO informed. Chandrayaan 2, launched by GSLV MkIII-M1 vehicle on July 22 had entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory after final orbit raising manoeuvre of the spacecraft was successfully carried out on August 14. The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) in Bengaluru at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Byalalu, near Bengaluru.

All systems onboard Chandrayaan2 spacecraft are performing normal, ISRO added on August 14. According to ISRO, Chandrayaan 2, "India's second lunar expedition will shed light on a completely unexplored region of the Moon, its South Pole. This mission will help us gain a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon by conducting detailed topographical studies, comprehensive mineralogical analyses, and a host of other experiments on the lunar surface," the space agency has informed. "While there, we will also explore discoveries made by Chandrayaan1, such as the presence of water molecules on the Moon and new rock types with unique chemical composition," it added.

With inputs from PTI

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