Watch: First glimpses of the moon captured by Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 will go around the moon and reduce its velocity in orbit in preparation for a soft landing on Earth's only natural satellite.

The moon's charter captured by the spacecraft Chandrayyan-3.(Image source: Twitter/@chandrayaan_3)

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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday shared the first visuals of the moon captured by the spacecraft Chandrayaan-3. The series of photographs, captured as Chandrayaan-3 passed by the earth’s sole natural satellite, showed the pockmarked surface of the Moon from various angles.

In the video shared on Twitter, the spacecraft is seen capturing the visuals of the moon during Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) on August 5. According to the ISRO’s website, it states that the spacecraft is in 170 km x 4313 km orbit around the moon.

The Moon, as viewed by #Chandrayaan3 spacecraft during Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) on August 5, 2023.#ISRO pic.twitter.com/xQtVyLTu0c

— LVM3-M4/CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION (@chandrayaan_3) August 6, 2023

Chandrayaan-3 has successfully entered a translunar orbit, starting its journey towards the moon, after completing several Earth orbits since it was launched on July 14. On Sunday, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit.

In 10 points | All you need to know about the moon mission

ISRO in a tweet said, “The spacecraft successfully underwent a planned orbit reduction maneuver. The retrofitting of engines brought it closer to the moon’s surface, now to 170 km x 4313 km. The next operation to further reduce the orbit is scheduled for August 9, 2023, between 13:00 and 14:00 Hrs. IST.”

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:

The orbit-raising maneuver (Earth-bound perigee firing) is performed successfully from ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru.

The spacecraft is expected to attain an orbit of 127609 km x 236 km. The achieved orbit will be confirmed after the observations.

The next… pic.twitter.com/LYb4XBMaU3

— ISRO (@isro) July 25, 2023

During the next few weeks, Chandrayaan-3 will go around the moon and reduce its velocity in orbit in preparation for a soft landing on Earth’s only natural satellite. This will continue until it reaches a circular orbit of 100 kilometres. Separated from the propulsion module, the lander and rover will descend to the surface.

Upon successful completion of the mission, India will be the fourth country to achieve a lunar soft landing, behind the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China.