Indian spacecraft, bound for lunar orbit, successfully carried out its third lunar maneuver to correct its orbit by using its onboard propulsion system.
“The maneuver was performed successfully today (Wednesday) beginning at 9:04 hours IST, using the onboard propulsion system. The duration of the exercise was 1,190 seconds (19:84 minutes),” said state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in a statement on its official website.
The orbit achieved after the maneuver is 179 km x 1412 km.
ISRO reported that all spacecraft parameters were normal.
The next Lunar bound orbit maneuver is scheduled on August 30, 2019, between 1800 – 1900 hrs IST.
This is the third such maneuver since the Chandrayaan-2 entered lunar orbit. The spacecraft is carrying Vikram Lander which will perform a soft landing on the south pole of our closest neighbor. No previous human missions have ever gone to the Lunar south pole.
Chandrayaan-2 blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, on 22 July 2019.
A successful landing would make India the fourth nation to achieve a successful soft landing on the moon.
India’s space agency ISRO is much hopeful that Chandrayaan 2 will be the first human spacecraft to reach where no one has ever reached before―lunar south pool. India hopes to become the fourth nation to achieve a soft lunar landing. Only the former Soviet Union, the US, and China have been able to do so.
Muhammad Abdullah Khan has done bachelors in Chemistry from Government College University
Lahore. He is a science enthusiast and loves to read and write about astronomy, cosmology and latest
scientific endeavors.
