Chandrayaan-3 will enter the Moon’s orbit today

Chandrayaan-3: India’s third moon spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 is set to perform fifth and final Earth orbit-raising manoevre today. The success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission will make India the fourth country in the world to land and ride on the Moon’s surface after the US, Russia, and China.

Speaking about the mission, space minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday, “Chandrayaan-3 will enter the next (Earth) orbit tomorrow. Soon, it will enter the Moon’s orbit. By the first week of August, Chandrayaan-3 would have completed 5-6 circles of the Moon and entered the innermost circle. Then it will take another 10 days to locate the exact spot where it has to land in the South Pole area of the Moon.”

Launched on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 has been gradually boosting its orbit around Earth, preparing for its final shot toward the moon. The spacecraft was placed into an elliptic parking orbit of 36,500 km x 170 km by the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3) in a flawless lift-off. The fifth orbit-raising maneuver, scheduled to occur between 2 pm and 3 pm IST today, will see the spacecraft transfer to an Earth-to-Moon trajectory.

The Moon’s gravity will eventually pull Chandrayaan-3 into lunar orbit, setting the stage for the next phase of this historic mission. Chandrayaan-3’s mission extends beyond merely reaching the Moon. It aims to conduct scientific experiments to study the lunar environment, including its history, geology, and potential for resources. The spacecraft comprises a lander and rover, developed by Isro, designed to safely land on the lunar surface, collect data, and conduct a series of scientific experiments.