Chandrayaan 2 takes one more leap in reaching the Moon.
Chandrayaan 2 will be performing its final orbital change in its quest to Moon on September 1.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) declared on Friday that it has successfully performed the fourth lunar bound orbit operation for the Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft, that is currently in the lunar orbit for its rendezvous with the Moon. All spacecraft parameters are normal, the Bengaluru headquartered space agency said after the move on the spacecraft.
Fourth Lunar bound orbit activity for Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft was performed successfully on August 30, beginning at 1818 hrs IST as planned, using the onboard propulsion system. The duration of the operation was 1155 seconds.
Next lunar bound orbit operation is scheduled on 1st September. In a major milestone for India’s second Moon mission, the spacecraft had successfully entered the lunar orbit on August 20 by performing LOI operation.
There will be one more orbit exercise on Sunday to make the spacecraft enter its final orbit, passing over the lunar pole at a distance of about 100 km from the Moon’s surface.
It will then perform a series of complex braking activities to soft land in the South polar region of the Moon on September 7, 2019.
Future Plans
ISRO Chairman K Sivan has said the proposed soft-landing on the Moon by Chandrayaan 2 is going to be the most terrifying moment as it is something ISRO has not done before, whereas LOI operation was successfully carried out during the Chandrayaan 1 mission.
Following the landing, the rover Pragyan will roll out from lander Vikram and carry out experiments on the lunar surface for a period of one lunar day, equivalent to 14 earth days.
The mission life of the lander is also one lunar day, while the orbiter will continue its mission for a year. The orbiter carries eight scientific payloads for mapping the lunar surface and study the exosphere of the Moon, while the lander carries three scientific payloads to conduct surface and subsurface science experiments.
Chandrayaan 2 is 124 kilometres away from the Moon while at the farthest point it is 164 kilometres away.
The Beginning of the Journey.
The Chandrayaan 2 satellite had begun its journey towards the moon leaving the earth’s orbit in the dark hours on August 14, after a crucial Trans Lunar Insertion operation by ISRO to place the spacecraft on “Lunar Transfer Trajectory”.
India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV MkIII-M1, had successfully launched the 3,840-kg Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft into the earth’s orbit on July 22.
According to ISRO, the mission objective of Chandrayaan 2 is to develop and demonstrate the key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability, including soft-landing and roving on the lunar surface.
