ISRO on August 20 said it has successfully reduced the orbit of the Landing Module (LM) of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, further bringing it closer to the moon. | Image credit: ISRO
The lander module of India’s third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 completed its second and final test in the early hours of August 20.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) performed the second and final debug of the Lander Module to reduce the size of the Lander Module to 25 km x 134 km.
Also Read: ISRO Releases Two Moon Videos On Aug 18
“Mission Chandrayaan-3: The second and final deceleration operation successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km,” ISRO said after debugging the Lander Module.
On August 18, ISRO successfully performed its first deceleration operation that reduced its orbit to 113 km x 157 km. This was done a day after the lander module separated from the propulsion module after a 34-day journey to the Moon.
After two deceleration operations, Lander’s much-awaited landing with Rover in his belly is scheduled for August 23.
After the second and final and final debugging, ISRO said the module will undergo internal testing and wait for sunrise at the designated landing site.
The space agency said: “The module will undergo internal inspection and wait for sunrise at the designated landing site.
Now that the two debug operations have gone smoothly as planned, ISRO is scheduled to perform the most important part of the mission on August 23, which is touching down on the lunar surface.
ISRO said the powered landing is expected to begin at 5:45 p.m. on the specified date.
“The electrical descent is expected to begin on August 23, 2023, at around 5:45pm. IST,” ISRO posted on social media platform X early August 20.
Why wait for sunrise?
In July, when announcing the launch date of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, ISRO President S. Somanath said, “If the launch takes place on that date (July 14), then we will be ready to land on the moon by last day. week of August. The date (landing date) is decided when there is a sunrise on the Moon. When we land, the sunlight has to be there. So the landing will take place on August 23, Mr. Somanath said.
Grandfather. Somanath said if the landing doesn’t go as planned on August 23, ISRO will wait another month to make the landing attempt in September.
“The Lander and the Rover will be on the Moon for 14 days until sunlight arrives. When there is no sunlight, a small solar panel on the Rover will generate energy to charge the battery for the next 14 days until light is available. The temperature there drops to minus 40 degrees and in such an environment there is no guarantee that the battery, the electronics will survive but we have done some tests and we have a feeling that it will. even under such extreme conditions,” he said. Somanath said.
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