Chandrayaan-3 to get even closer to the Moon as ISRO pans an action in few minutes

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

ISRO) is expected to conduct another orbit reduction maneuver of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft to take it closer to the surface of Moon, on August 14. The action is likely to take place between 11:30-12:30 pm today. The spacecraft had moved closer to the Moon's surface on August 9 after it underwent another orbit reduction maneuver.

India's ambitious third Moon mission's spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 after the launch on July 14, had entered into lunar orbit or the Moon's orbit on August 5. «Even closer to the moon's surface. Chandrayaan-3's orbit is reduced to 174 km x 1437 km following a maneuver performed today,» ISRO had said in a tweet.

A similar orbit reduction maneuver was carried out by the ISRO on Sunday. As the mission progresses, a series of maneuvers is being conducted by ISRO to gradually reduce Chandrayaan-3's orbit and position it over the lunar poles. According to ISRO sources, there will be two more orbit reduction maneuvers to bring the spacecraft closer to the Moon.

These maneuvers will be performed on August 14 and 16 to reach 100 km orbit, following which the landing module, comprising the lander and rover will break away from the propulsion module. 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 on August 23. Over five moves in the three weeks since the July 14 launch, ISRO had lifted the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into orbits farther and farther away from the Earth.