The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully carried out the lunar-orbit reduction manoeuvre of India’s third moon mission Chandrayaan-3 yesterday, a day after ing it into the lunar orbit. ISRO said the spacecraft successfully underwent a planned orbit reduction manoeuvre which brought it closer to the Moon’s surface now to 170 km x 4313 km orbit means the spacecraft’s farthest point from the moon is 4313 km and the closest point is 170 km only.
The space agency said it will carry out the next such operation Wednesday, 9th August between 1pm and 2pm. There will be three more moon-bound manoeuvres till August 17, following which the landing module, comprising the lander and rover, will break away from the propulsion module. After this, de-orbiting manoeuvres will be carried out on the lander before the final descent on the moon. According to ISRO, it would attempt a soft landing on the moon’s surface on August 23.