India’s ambitious moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, is set to achieve another milestone as its lander, Vikram, is scheduled to detach from the spacecraft’s propulsion module today. The mission aims to land both the lander and the rover, Pragyaan, on the Moon’s surface on August 23. Once on the Moon, the lander Vikram will capture images of the Pragyaan rover, which will subsequently deploy its instruments to study seismic activities on the lunar terrain.
Chandrayaan-3 successfully completed its fifth and final lunar-bound orbit maneuver recently, which brought it closer to the Moon’s surface. With all the lunar-bound maneuvers successfully executed, the spacecraft is now ready to initiate the separation of the lander Vikram from the propulsion module.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) shared their progress on the mission, stating, “Today’s successful firing, needed for a short duration, has put Chandrayaan-3 into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km, as intended. With this, the lunar-bound manoeuvres are completed. It’s time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module gear up for their separate journeys.”
Chandrayaan-3 was launched into space aboard the LVM3 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 14. After entering lunar orbit on August 5, the spacecraft is now ready for its final leg of the journey, aiming for a soft landing of the lander Vikram on the Moon’s surface on August 23.
Following the separation of the lander Vikram, the propulsion module will continue its trajectory in the same orbit. The upcoming landing attempt by Vikram will involve capturing images of the Pragyaan rover. Pragyaan will utilize laser beams to melt a portion of the lunar surface known as regolith and analyze the gases released during the process.
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