E-Paper
Chandrayaan-3: ISRO releases Moon's images from altitude of 70 km, says ‘buzzing with excitement’
Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled for its soft-landing on the lunar surface on August 23.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday informed that the Chandrayaan-3 - which is scheduled for its soft-landing on the lunar surface on August 23 - is right on schedule. “Systems are undergoing regular checks, smooth sailing is continuing,” the space agency wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Follow Chandrayaan 3 LIVE updates here
The ISRO added that the “Mission Operations Complex (MOX) is buzzed with energy and excitement!”
Also read: Chandrayaan-3: How will Moon mission help boost India's space sector? Details
Sharing a video of images of the moon captured by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) from an altitude of about 70 km, the ISRO wrote, “LPDC images assist the Lander Module in determining its position (latitude and longitude) by matching them against an onboard moon reference map.”
The Indian space agency will live telecast the landing operations from 5:27 pm on August 23. It can be viewed on ISRO's website (https://isro.gov.in), ISRO's official YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/watch?v=DLA_64yz8Ss), and ISRO's official Facebook channel (https://facebook.com/ISRO).
Chandrayaan-3's journey so far:
July 6: The ISRO declared Chandrayaan-3 mission would launch on July 14 from Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota's second launch pad.
July 7: All vehicle electrical tests were completed successfully.
July 11: A 24-hour ‘Launch Rehearsal’ was done successfully.
July 14: ISRO's LVM3 M4 launched Chandrayaan-3 into its intended orbit.
July 15: The mission's first orbit-raising manoeuvre succeeded in Bengaluru. The spacecraft reached an orbit of 41762 km x 173 km.
July 17: The second orbit-raising manoeuvre put Chandrayaan-3 in an orbit of 41603 km x 226 km.
July 22: The fourth orbit-raising manoeuvre, Earth-bound perigee firing, successfully placed the spacecraft in a 71351 km x 233 km orbit.
July 25: Another orbit-raising manoeuvre was carried out successfully.
August 1: In a significant milestone, Chandrayaan-3 entered the translunar orbit with an orbit of 288 km x 369328 km.
August 5: The spacecraft entered the lunar orbit at 164 km x 18074 km.
August 6: The spacecraft's orbit was lowered to 170 km x 4,313 km around the Moon.
August 9: Another manoeuver was performed that lowered the spacecraft to 174 km x 1437 km.
August 14: The mission entered the orbit circularisation phase of 151 km x 179 km orbit.
August 16: The spacecraft entered the orbit of 153 km x 163 km after the firing.
August 17: The landing module, comprising the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover was separated from its propulsion system.
August 18: The spacecraft successfully completed a 'deboosting' operation that reduced its orbit to 113 km x 157 km. Deboosting is the process of slowing down to position itself in an orbit where the orbit's closest point to the Moon (Perilune) is 30 km and the farthest point (the Apolune) is 100 km.
August 20: Chandrayaan-3 performed the second and final deboosting operation and reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km.
August 23: If everything goes well and as planned, the spacecraft will land on the lunar surface.
Also read: Chandrayaan 3: Five hurdles India's third lunar mission overcame so far
Meanwhile, a senior ISRO scientist on Monday said that the national space agency will go ahead with the landing only if conditions on the day are “favourable”; or else a fresh attempt will be made on August 27.
