Chandrayaan-3 finally leaves Earth, begins 3.8 lakh-km-long journey to Moon

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 01, 2023: India launched its ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon on July 14. After successfully completing its fifth orbit-raising maneuver, the spacecraft completed the orbits around the Earth on Tuesday, August 1.

 

With this, Chandrayaan-3 commenced its 3.8 lakh-km-long journey to the Moon. The Lunar-Orbit Insertion (LOI) is planned for August 5, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

"Chandrayaan-3 completes its orbits around the Earth and heads towards the Moon. A successful perigee-firing performed at ISTRAC, ISRO has injected the spacecraft into the translunar orbit," Isro said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14, 2023, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Since then, it has successfully executed five orbit-raising maneuvers, bringing it closer to its ultimate destination: the moon.

Following the trans-lunar injection (TLI), the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft escaped from orbiting the earth and is now following a path that would take it to the vicinity of the Moon, an Isro official told news agency PTI.

Isro had said it would attempt a soft landing of the lander on the lunar surface on August 23.

Chandrayaan-3 carries scientific instruments designed to study various aspects of the lunar surface, including the thermophysical properties of the lunar regolith, lunar seismicity, the lunar surface plasma environment, and the elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site on the Moon.

Courtesy: India Today