Chandrayaan enters moon orbit: ‘Feeling lunar gravity’

The next operation - reduction of orbit– will be done at 11 PM on Sunday, ISRO added.

ISRO's Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3) M4 rocket carrying 'Chandrayaan-3' lifts off from the launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota, Friday, July 14, 2023. (PTI Photo)

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TWENTY-THREE days after it left earth, Chandrayaan-3, aiming to become the first Indian spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon, entered the lunar orbit on Saturday evening, completing another milestone in its journey.

This means that the spacecraft which had been moving towards the moon for the last five days — since it emerged out of its earth-bound orbit — has now begun to circle around the moon.

“MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity,” said a tweet from ISRO on Saturday evening, putting words to what must only be an electronic signal from the spacecraft to the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC).

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
“MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity 🌖”
🙂

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… pic.twitter.com/6T5acwiEGb

— ISRO (@isro) August 5, 2023

As of now, the spacecraft is in an elliptical orbit around the moon, that is 18,074 km from the lunar surface at its farthest and 164 km at the nearest. This orbit altitude would be lowered progressively over the next few days, ultimately achieving a circular orbit of 100 km x 100 km, from which a final descent on the lunar surface is planned around August 23. The first of these altitude reduction manoeuvres is planned for Sunday.

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“The health of Chandrayaan-3 is normal,” ISRO said in a statement.

Also Read | The story of ISRO’s origins, as Chandrayaan-3 flies to the Moon

This is the third time that an Indian spacecraft has entered the lunar orbit. The previous two Chandrayaan missions had also reached this phase. While Chandrayaan-1 was only meant to be an orbiter, it did send out an instrument called Moon Impact Probe to crash land on the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-2 was supposed to make a soft landing but could not, faltering in the last few seconds of its journey.

Also Read | Chandrayaan-3: Small step to moon, giant leap for India’s space journey

Chandrayaan-3 has taken slightly less time to reach the lunar orbit compared to Chandrayaan-2, which reached this destination in 30 days. But Chandrayaan-3 will spend more time in the lunar orbit, before attempting the soft landing.

If the soft landing is successful, it will make India the fourth country in the world to do so after US, Russia and China. Chandrayaan-3 is attempting to become the first mission to land near the lunar south pole. Other missions have so far landed close to the moon’s equator.

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More

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