Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Deboost operation done, soft landing on August 23. Here's what has happened in space so far
Indian spacecraft is now expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon at 6.04 pm on August 23. However, the lander module would undergo internal checks ahead of the planned soft landing on the moon. The lander module (LM) comprises the lander ‘Vikram' and rover ‘Pragyan’.
According to the space agency, the second and final deboosting operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km, and now, the module would undergo internal checks and await sunrise at the designated landing site. This eagerly anticipated event will be broadcast live on August 23, starting from 17:27 Hrs IST on multiple platforms, including the ISRO Website, its YouTube channel, ISRO's Facebook page, and DD National TV channel, PTI reported. After its launch on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 entered into lunar orbit on August 5, following which orbit reduction maneuvers were carried out on the spacecraft on August 6, 9, 14, and 16, ahead of the separation of both its modules on August 17.
On Thursday, 35 days after the mission was launched, the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 had successfully separated from the propulsion module. Following the separation process, the lander underwent the ‘deboost’ operations to place it in an orbit where when it's at a point closest to the Moon (Perilune) it would be at a distance of 30 kilometers and at its farthest point from the Moon (Apolune) it would be 100 km away. At this point, the soft landing on the south-polar region of the Moon will be attempted.
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