Chandrayaan-3: Critical day for Indian spacecraft today. Here's what will happen

livemint.com:

Chandrayaan-3 will get more closer to Moon after the fourth orbit reduction manoeuvre planned today. As the mission progresses, a series of manoeuvres are being conducted by ISRO to gradually reduce Chandrayaan-3's orbit and position it over the lunar poles. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to further lower the lunar spacecraft to a 100 km x 100 km orbit today.

And on 17 August, the separation of the lander module from the propulsion module is set to take place. Now only about a week is left for this crucial Moon mission to reach its final stage. After this, the lander is expected to undergo a "deboost" (the process of slowing down) and make a soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon next week.

The final landing of the Chnadrayaan-3, comprising Vikram (landeR) and Pragyan (rover) is projected to take place on Moon's surface on 23 August. On Wednesday morning, Chandrayaan-3's manoeuvre is planned, which is expected to place the spacecraft in a circular orbit of 100 km. On Thursday, Vikram and Pragyan sitting inside the ISRO's lunar spacecraft will break away from the propulsion module.

Vikram will have to be put in the elliptical orbit and ISRo will carry out manoeuvres, helping to achieve this. According to a report by the Times of India, the manoeuvres will eventually put Vikram in an orbit where the Perilune (closest point to the Moon) is 30 km and Apolune (farthest point from Moon) is 100 km. The final landing of Chandrayaan-3 will be attempted from this orbit.