Vikram Lander performs second maneuver ahead of Chandrayaan-2 Sept 7 Moon landing

ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 update: The Vikram Lander, which carries the Pragyaan rover inside, is scheduled to commence its descent to the surface of the Moon between 1-2 am on Saturday, and will touch down between 1.30-2.30 am.

Chandrayaan-2 update: Vikram Lander performs second maneuver, all eyes on Sept 7 Moon landing

The first image of the Moon send by Chandrayaan-2, clicked from an altitude of about 4,375 kilometres from the lunar surface. (Source: ISRO)

The Vikram Lander of the Chandrayaan-2 mission successfully carried out the second de-orbiting maneuver in the early hours of Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. The nine-second maneuver was performed at 3.42 am.

With this, the Lander is ready to begin its final descent to the moon, which is scheduled on Saturday, September 7. “With this manoeuvre the required orbit for the Vikram Lander to commence its descent towards the surface of the Moon is achieved,” ISRO said in a statement.

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The Lander, which carries the Pragyaan rover inside, is scheduled to commence its descent to the surface of the Moon between 1-2 am on Saturday, and will touch down between 1.30-2.30 am.

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The first de de-orbiting manoeuvre was carried out at 8.50 am on Tuesday. The four-second manoeuvre was performed a day after the Vikram Lander separated from the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter.

“Both the Orbiter and Lander are healthy,” ISRO had said on Tuesday.

Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019.

In the last week, India’s second lunar mission has taken several steps and is just days away from creating history as it prepares for a soft landing on the surface of the Moon.

The Vikram lander separated from the main spacecraft module on Monday and is orbiting the Moon independently. It will orbit the Moon and relay information to ISRO for at least one year. The main spacecraft module of Chandrayaan-2 had reached the near-circular orbit this past Sunday. Its orbit is 119 km from the moon’s surface at its nearest and 127 km at the farthest, according to the information given in the ISRO statement.

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