Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will fire Chandrayaan-2’s liquid engine on Tuesday to insert the spacecraft into a lunar orbit on Tuesday to insert the spacecraft into a lunar orbit.
ISRO chairman K Sivan said: “It’s tomorrow morning (tentatively between 8.30 am and 9.30 am). It’s challenging.”
Following this, there will be further four orbit manoeuvres to make the spacecraft enter into its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from Moon’s surface, Isro has said.
Subsequently, the Vikram lander will separate from the orbiter on September 2nd.
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 September 7th.
Chandrayaan-2, launched on July 22 by GSLV MkIII-M1 vehicle, had entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory on August 14 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 the 14th Aug.
According to Isro, Chandrayaan-2 India’s second lunar expedition will shed light on a completely unexplored region of the Moon, its South Pole. The mission is expected to help and give 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.
Chandrayaan-1 discovered the presence of water molecules on the Moon and new rock types with unique chemical composition.
Source : Various