New Delhi, Aug 02 : Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday successfully carried out the fourth earth bound orbit-raising manoeuvre for its lunar mission – Chandrayaan-2, which has now stepped closer to Moon.
“Fourth earth bound orbit-raising manoeuvre for Chandryaan-2 spacecraft has been performed successfully today (August 2, 2019) at 1527 hrs (IST) as planned, using the onboard propulsion system for a firing duration of 646 seconds. The orbit achieved is 277 x 89472 km. All spacecraft parameters are normal,” the space agency said in a statement.
The next orbit-raising manoeuvre is scheduled on August 6, 2019, between 1430 – 1530 hrs (IST), the space agency said.
The first, second, and third orbit raising manoeuvres were successfully carried on July 24, July 26, and July 29 respectively.
ISRO’s ambitious second unmanned Moon mission was put into motion on July 22, when the Chandrayaan 2 was injected into an elliptical orbit of 170×45,475 km by India’s heavy-lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) in a textbook style.
The spacecraft Chandrayaan 2 comprises of three segments — the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads), the lander ‘Vikram’ (1,471 kg, four payloads) and rover ‘Pragyan’ (27 kg, two payloads). Chandrayaan 2 is scheduled to reach the Moon by August 20 and land on its surface on September 7. According to ISRO, the lander Vikram will land on the Moon on September 7.
If all goes as per the plan, the Chandrayaan 2 lunar mission will make India only the fourth nation in the world – behind US, Russia and China – to have reached the surface of the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2 will explore a region of the moon where no mission has ever set foot.
The spacecraft will be the first Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface.
