Chandrayaan-2, on board the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-mark III-M1), launches at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 22. (File AP Photo)
Chandrayaan 2 highlights: Chandrayaan-2, India’s second lunar exploration mission, went through its second lunar bound orbit manoeuvre today. The orbit manoeuvre took place at 12:50 hours IST, using the onboard propulsion system, ISRO said.
The spacecraft got successfully placed in the orbit of the Moon on Tuesday, August 20. The spacecraft will touch down on the Moon’s surface on September 7.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team of ISRO, saying the latest manoeuvre was an “important step in the landmark journey to the Moon.”
There will be four more orbit manoeuvres to enable the spacecraft to enter into its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from Moon’s surface. Subsequently, the Vikram lander will separate from the orbiter on September 2. Since its launch on July 22, Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has been in the orbit of the Earth. So far, the spacecraft has raised its orbit five times from July 23 to August 6.
According to ISRO, Chandrayaan2 will shed light on a completely unexplored region of the Moon, the South Pole. The mission’s success will make India, the fourth country after Russia, the US and China to make a soft landing on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2 successfully went through its second lunar orbit manoeuvre at 1250 hrs IST, using the onboard propulsion system, ISRO said. The duration of the manoeuvre was 1228 seconds.
The orbit achieved is 118 km x 4412 km. All spacecraft parameters are normal and the next lunar bound orbit maneuver is scheduled on August 28 between 0530 - 0630 hrs IST, the space agency said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team of ISRO for successful Lunar Orbit Insertion of Chandrayaan-2 Tuesday. Taking to Twitter, Modi said it was an "important step in the landmark journey to the Moon."
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Watch: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief K Sivan explains the intricacies of the Chandrayaan2 mission using a miniature model
Expressing confidence about India's Chandrayaan-2 moon landing mission, ISRO Chief K Sivan said the "entire world is waiting for our data."
Next Lunar bound orbit manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-2 will take place tomorrow between 12.30 to 1.30 pm
Addressing the media on Chandrayaan-2 successful Lunar Orbit Insertion, ISRO chief said the South pole is expected to have more water, and minerals.
ISRO chief K Sivan said the Vikram lander will land on the Moon at 1.55 am on Sept 7. Responding to a question, Sivan said PM Modi has been extended an invitation to witness the landing at the ISRO headquarters.
Addressing the press on the successful Lunar Orbit Insertion of Chandrayaan-2, ISRO chief K Sivan said moments leading up to the insertion were "terrifying", adding that "our hearts stopped" in anticipation of the development.
ISRO Chief K Sivan: Next major event will happen on 2nd September when the lander will be separated from the orbiter. On 3rd September we will have a small maneuver for about 3 seconds to ensure that the systems of the lander are running normally.
ISRO Chief K Sivan: Chandrayaan-2 mission crossed a major milestone today, the precise lunar orbit insertion maneuver was carried out at 9 am for about 30 minutes and Chandrayaan 2 was precisely inserted in the defined orbit.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated ISRO on the successful Lunar Orbit Insertion today.
The Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI), Chandrayaan-2 is now in Lunar orbit. Next, Lander Vikram will soft land on Moon on September 7, 2019.
ISRO said all the systems on Chandrayaan-2 were functioning normally, as expected. "The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Bylalu, near Bengaluru. All the systems of Chandrayaan-2 are healthy," ISRO said.
With Chandrayaan 2, India joins the small select club of nations which have major space missions on their CV. It is much more important than even the nuclear capability. It shows that India is able to meet the high standards of space technology. It was the genius of Vikram Sarabhai which launched India on the fast track, which has brought us Chandrayaan.
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Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver was completed successfully today at 9 am as planned, using the onboard propulsion system. The duration of maneuver was 1738 seconds. With this, Chandrayaan-2 was successfully inserted into a Lunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 114 km x 18072 km, ISRO confirmed.
SO FAR, since its launch on July 22, Chandrayaan-2 had been orbiting the Earth, moving into higher and orbits. This is achieved by a series of “Earth-bound orbit-raising manoeuvres”. There were five such manoeuvres before the mission left Earth orbit on Wednesday. These raised the orbits around Earth successively to 230 × 45,163 km (July 24), 251 × 54,829 km (July 26), 276 × 71,792 km (July 29), 277 × 89,472 km (August 2) and 276 × 1,42,975 km (August 6). The two figures with each orbit refer to the distance at the nearest and farthest points.
Chandrayaan2, launched on July 22 by GSLV MkIII-M1 vehicle, had entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory on August 14 after final orbit raising manoeuvre of the spacecraft was successfully carried out.
The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Byalalu, near Bengaluru.
All systems on board Chandrayaan2 spacecraft are performing normal, ISRO said on August 14.
Dr. K. Sivan, Chairman, ISRO will brief the media today at 11 am on the occasion of Lunar Orbit Insertion of Chandrayaan-2.
Chandrayaan-2 will enter the orbit of the Moon between 8.30 am and 9.30 am today. Track this space for real-time updates on the important development in India's lunar exploration mission.