India's third moon mission gears up for soft landing
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The Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) third Moon mission is edging closer to making a soft landing on the lunar south pole on August 23.
On Thursday, August 17, the mission successfully separated the lander module from the propulsion module, which carried the spacecraft to the Moon.
Lander Module Successfully separates from Propulsion Module today (August 17, 2023).
— LVM3-M4/CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION (@chandrayaan_3) August 17, 2023
The next Lander Module (Deorbit 1) maneuver is scheduled for tomorrow (August 18, 2023) around 1600 hrs IST.
For details please visit https://t.co/4VRtx6Gh1N #Chandrayaan3 pic.twitter.com/nmsBAbRebm
The agency is now preparing for the last stage of its Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Following separation, the lander will commence a "deboost" process to slow its speed and come closer to the lunar surface in orbit.
This activity seeks to place the lander in an orbit where the closest point to the Moon (Perilune) is 30 kilometers, and the furthest point (Apolune) is 100 kilometers. This crucial orbital arrangement will be the starting point to successfully felicitate a soft landing attempt on the harsh terrain of the south pole.
Meanwhile, according to the ISRO, the propulsion module will "continue its journey in the current orbit for months/years."
It has one sophisticated payload that will conduct a spectroscopic investigation of the Earth's atmosphere and measure fluctuations in polarization from Earth's clouds. This information will aid in determining the signatures of exoplanets that could be habitable, like Earth.
Meanwhile, the Propulsion Module continues its journey in the current orbit for months/years.
— LVM3-M4/CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION (@chandrayaan_3) August 17, 2023
The SHAPE payload onboard it would
☑️ perform spectroscopic study of the Earth’s atmosphere and
☑️ measure the variations in polarization from the clouds on Earth
– to accumulate…
Russia is also aiming to make a soft landing on Moon
Chandrayaan-3 was launched into a high elliptical Earth orbit on July 14 and entered lunar orbit on August 5.
The Chandrayaan-3 comprises a Vikram lander, and a Pragyan rover outfitted with cutting-edge scientific equipment. The two will explore, investigate, and collect data from the lunar surface for around 14 Earth days only due to freezing lunar temperatures, which may exhaust their batteries.
Recently, the Moon race intensified when Russia launched its first lunar mission in 1976. The Luna-25 spacecraft entered lunar orbit on Wednesday, August 16.
The Russian space agency aims to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole on August 21 — a few days ahead of India.
If the Russian spacecraft successfully lands on this designated date, then Chandrayaan-3 would be second to land on the less-explored south pole region of the Moon.
While India will be the fourth country after the US, the former Soviet Union, and China to achieve a soft landing on Moon.
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