India’s second spacecraft to the moon, Chandrayaan-2, is set to enter the lunar orbit on Tuesday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday said that the spacecraft will be moved into the lunar orbit by firing Chandrayaan-2 on-board motors.
After Chandrayaan-2's insertion into the lunar orbit, ISRO will carry out four more orbit maneuvers (August 21, 28, 30 and September 1) to enter it into its final orbit passing over lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the Moon's surface.
Subsequently, the Vikram lander will separate from the orbiter on September 2, 2019.
According to ISRO, two orbit maneuvers will be performed on the lander before the initiation of powered descent to make a soft landing on the lunar surface on September 7, 2019.
Last week, the spacecraft successfully carried out the crucial process of trans-lunar injection, moving from earth's orbit towards the moon.
Taking to microblogging site Twitter about the same, ISRO had said, “The final orbit raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was successfully carried out today (August 14, 2019) at 02:21 am IST. During this maneuver, the spacecraft's liquid engine was fired for about 1203 seconds. With this, Chandrayaan-2 entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory. Earlier, the spacecraft’s orbit was progressively increased five times during July 23 to August 06, 2019.”
ISRO scientists have been continuously monitoring the spacecraft from ground systems.
According to ISRO, two orbit maneuvers will be performed on the lander before the initiation of powered descent to make a soft landing on the lunar surface on September 7, 2019.
