New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation took to Twitter on Saturday to announce that the Chandrayaan-3 aircraft reached a significant milestone by entering the Lunar Orbit.
Chandrayaan-3 has now travelled about two-thirds of the distance since its launch on July 14.
“MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity,” ISRO tweeted.
“Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit. A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC, Bengaluru. The next operation – reduction of orbit – is scheduled for Aug 6, 2023, around 23:00 Hrs. IST,” ISRO added.
The spacecraft’s landing is expected on August 23. Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days. One day on the Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth.
Chandrayaan-3 is equipped with a lander, a rover, and a propulsion module. It weighs around 3,900 kilograms.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2. On July 22, 2019, India’s second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, commenced its journey to the moon from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. Unfortunately, during the early hours of September 6, the Vikram lunar lander encountered a mishap and crashed on the moon, resulting in the mission’s failure.