India’s C🔥handrayaan-3 has successfully entered the Moon's orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisaℱtion (ISRO).
ISRO has released a video of the Moon 'as viewed by Chandrayaan-3⛄'.
"The Moon, as viewed by Chandrayaan3 spacecraft during Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) on August 5, 2023,&ℱquot;ISRO said.
The video was released ♑by the space agencyꦚ hours before the second major manoeuvre which is to take place on late Sunday night.
Ea🌼rlier, Chandrayaan-3 was succ𝔉essfully inserted into the lunar orbit on Saturday.
The required manoeuvre was 🐟done from an ISRO facility.
"Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit. A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC ( ISRO Telemetry🔜, Tracking and Command♈ Network), Bengaluru," the agency said.
Perilune is the spacecraft's clos🐷est point to the moon.
ISRO also shared a message from the satellite to its centres, which read, "MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity." Over five moves in the three weeks since the launch on July 14, ISRO has been lifting the Chandrayaan-3 spa♔cecraft into orbits farther and farther away from the Earth.
Then, on August 1 in a key maneuver -- a slingshot move -- the cra𝐆ft was sent successfully towards the Moon from Earth's orbit.
Following this trans-lunar injection, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft escaped from orbiting the Earth and began following a path that would take it toಞ the ꦬvicinity of the moon.
Earlier, in July this year, India's Chandr﷽ayaan-3 lifted♐ off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The mi🀅ssi👍on assumes significance for country’s space exploration.
The mission could be a major success for India and the country would achieve a controlled landing on the moon, after Russia, the United Statesꦯ, and China.
The moon lander Vikram is perched on a Mark 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle -- dubbed the Bahubal♏i rocket.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hailed the launch as🌌 a "new chapter" in India's space odyssey and said it has elevated the dreams and ambitions of every Indian.
"Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in🐈 India's space odyssey. It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian," PM Modi had said.
The journey from Earth to the moon for the spacecraft is estimated to take about a month and the landing is expected onꦦ August 23.
It stated upon landing, it will operate for one l𒁏unar day, which is app🙈roximately 29 Earth days.
The Chandrayaan-3 will have three major components — a lander, a rover, and a propulsion model. It wil⭕l be using the Orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 which still exists in the lunar atmosphere.
In a first, India's mooncraft 'Vikram' will land in the South Pole of the moon, where🎉 water molecules have been found. The finding, made during India's fiಌrst moon mission in 2008, had startled the world.
Vikram is meant to have a safe, soft landing. The lander will then release the rover Pragyan, which will roam the moon's surface for a lunar day and cond♉uct scientific experiments.
The latest iteration of the Chandrayaan comes four years after anไ earlier attempt failed, with the ground crew losing contact moments before landing.
The ISRO's second lunar mission Chandrayaan-🐽2 failed while attempting to land in 2019. However, to avoid past failures, ISRO has corporate a series of changes in the upcoming mission.
"The main lacuna in the last Chandrayaan-2 mission was that there were off-nominal conditions that were initiated in the system. Everything was not nominal. And the craft was not able to handle the♔ off-nominal condition for a safe landing," th🍌e report quoted ISRO Chief S Somnath as having said.
