Chandrayaan 3 latest update: ISRO’s spacecraft moves closer to Moon’s surface ahead of another maneuver 

Chandrayaan 3 update: Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is moving closer to the Moon’s surface on Monday. ISRO announced CHandrayaan-3 will lower its orbit around the Moon today between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm. The latest orbit reduction maneuver will bring the spacecraft closer to the Moon’s surface, lesser than the current distance of 1,437 km. This, however, is not the first time that that ISRO’s ambitious mission moved closer to the Moon’s surface.

The ISRO carried out an orbit reduction maneuver on August 9, following which the spacecraft’s orbit was reduced to 174km x 1,437km. “Even closer to the moon’s surface. Chandrayaan-3's orbit is reduced to 174 km x 1437 km following a manuevre performed today. The next operation is scheduled for August 14, 2023, between 11:30 and 12:30 Hrs. IST,” the ISRO posted on X formerly known as Twitter on August 9.

Two other lunar orbit reduction maneuvers were conducted on August 5 and August 6. Weeks after its launch on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 entered the lunar orbit on August 5. Following the August 5 orbit reduction, the spacecraft’s lunar orbit reduced to 164km x 18, 074km. Chandrayaan-3’s lunar orbit reduced further to 170km x 4,313 km around the Moon following the August 6 maneuver.

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to the Chandrayaan-2. Chandrayaan-2 was launched from the second launch pad at Andhra Pradesh’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in July 2019.

The spacecraft could not achieve a smooth landing as its lander crashed since it deviated from its intended path while attempting to land on September 6, 2019.

Chandrayaan-3 is aimed at demonstrating end-to-end capability in safe landing on the lunar surface, observing and demonstrating the rover’s capabilities on the Moon, and in-site observation and conducting experiments on materials available on the lunar surface for understanding the Moon’s composition.

Data from Chandrayaan-2 has been thoroughly analysed to ensure a successful and smooth landing this time around. The spacecraft’s landing time will be determined soon, after which its propulsion module will detach from the lander while in orbit.

The procedures leading up to Chandrayaan-3’s soft landing consist of three stages—earth orbit maneuvers, trans-lunar injection, and lunar orbit maneuvers. Once these stages are complete, the lander will separate from the propulsion module and enter an orbit closer to the Moon, initiating the process of soft-landing process.

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