Chandrayaan 2: ISRO performs 3rd lunar-bound orbit maneuver

A view of the Chandrayaan-2 on board GSLVMkIII-M1 at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Nellore district, Saturday, July 13, 2019. Pic/PTI

Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation, with just 11 days to go for its moon landing stated that it has successfully performed the third lunar-bound orbit maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft on Wednesday stated. According to the city-headquartered space agency, all spacecraft parameters were normal after the maneuver on the spacecraft that is currently in the lunar orbit for its rendezvous with the Moon.

"Third Lunar bound orbit maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performed successfully today (August 28, 2019) beginning at 0904 hrs IST, using the onboard propulsion system. The duration of the maneuver was 1190 seconds. The orbit achieved is 179 km x 1412 km," ISRO stated in an update. "All spacecraft parameters are normal.

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The next Lunar bound orbit maneuver is scheduled on August 30, 2019, between 1800 - 1900 hrs IST," it added. The Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft had successfully entered the lunar orbit on August 20 by performing Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver which is a major milestone for India's second Moon mission. On August 21, after performing second lunar bound orbit maneuver, ISRO had released two sets of pictures of the moon captured by the spacecraft. There will be two more orbit manoeuvres to make the spacecraft enter into its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the Moon's surface.

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ISRO has stated that subsequently, the lander would separate into a 100 km X 30 km orbit around the Moon from the Orbiter. It would then perform a series of complex braking maneuvers to soft-land on September 7, 2019, in the South polar region of the Moon. K Sivan, the ISRO Chairman stated the proposed soft-landing on the Moon is going to be a "terrifying" moment as it is something ISRO has not done before, whereas LOI maneuver was successfully carried out during the Chandrayaan 1 mission.

With inputs from PTI

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