India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 was successfully placed into the moon’s orbit on Tuesday, 20 August, after the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) fired the mission’s liquid engine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after ISRO’s impressive feat, said that this is an important step in the landmark journey to the moon. In a tweet, PM Modi gave his best wishes for the mission’s successful culmination.
ISRO chairperson K Sivan said that the Chandrayaan-2 mission crossed a major milestone.
“The precise lunar orbit insertion maneuver was carried out at 9 am for about 30 minutes and Chandrayaan 2 was precisely inserted in the defined orbit.”K Sivan, Chairman, ISRO
‘Historic Milestone, Congratulations to ISRO’
As the news of Chandrayaan-2’s insertion into the moon’s orbit made rounds on social media on Tuesday, a lot of leaders on Twitter praised the milestone by ISRO.
While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh wrote, “Looking forward to the landing of ‘Pragyaan’ on moon next month,” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sent his “heartiest congratulations” to ISRO.
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Sivan said that the next major event will happen on 2 September when the lander will be separated from the orbiter. On 3 September, there will be a small maneuver for about 3 seconds to ensure that the systems of the lander are running normally.
The mission will land on the moon on 7 September, at around 1:55 am.
The spacecraft got into the lunar orbit at exactly 9:02 am on Tuesday, ISRO said.
Following this, there will be four more orbit manoeuvres to make the spacecraft enter its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the moon's surface, ISRO has said.
Subsequently, the Vikram lander will separate from the orbiter on 2 September, according to the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency.
“Two orbit manoeuvres will be performed on the lander before the initiation of powered descent to make a soft landing on the lunar surface on 7 September.”ISRO Statement
Chandrayaan-2, launched on 22 July by GSLV MkIII-M1 vehicle, had entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory on 14 August after final orbit raising manoeuvre of the spacecraft was successfully carried out.
The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Byalalu, near Bengaluru.
All systems on board Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft are performing normal, ISRO said on 14 August.
Chandrayaan2 – India's second lunar expedition – will shed light on a completely unexplored region of the moon, its south pole.
"This mission will help us gain a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon by conducting detailed topographical studies, comprehensive mineralogical analyses, and a host of other experiments on the lunar surface," the space agency has said.
“While there, we will also explore discoveries made by Chandrayaan-1, such as the presence of water molecules on the Moon and new rock types with unique chemical composition.”ISRO
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