Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's second deboosting tomorrow. Here's what it means
Chandrayaan-3 got successfully separated from the Propulsion Module, and on Friday, the Lander Module comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan) successfully underwent a deboosting operation that reduced its orbit to 113 km x 157 km. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that the Vikram lander will undergo another deboosting on 20 August.
Deboosting is the process of slowing down to position itself in an orbit where the orbit's closest point to the Moon (Perilune) is 30 km and the farthest point (the Apolune) is 100 km. According to ISRO Chairman, there will be a series of manoeuvres until Chandrayaan-3 lands (on the Moon) on 23rd August.
After Saturday's deboosting, Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander will reorient itself to 90 degrees for safe landing on Moon's surface. At around 100 metre altitude, the lander will scan the complications, if no such things are found, it would gradually descend, firing its thrusters until touchdown.
There are four major challenges ahead of the soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3-- Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are to demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate rover roving on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
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