An illustration showing ISRO's 'Chandrayaan-3' after its landing module (LM) successfully separated from the propulsion module (PM). Landing Module is set to descend to a slightly lower orbit upon a deboosting planned for Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, around 1600 Hrs, IST.
Credit: PTI Photo
Thirty-four days after launch, India's third lunar exploration mission entered a key phase on Thursday, after the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 was successfully separated from its propulsion module.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) tweeted after the separation, "Thanks for the ride, mate! said the Lander Module (LM)." The LM is set to descend to a “slightly lower orbit” upon a deboosting that has been planned for Friday at around 4 pm, the space agency said.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 14. Friday’s scheduled deboosting operation will be part of a series of manoeuvres through which Isro plans to facilitate a soft-landing on the south polar region of the Moon, on August 23.
After the separation, the Propulsion Module (PM) will continue its journey on the current orbit for months/years. The PM carries Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE), an experimental payload that would perform a spectroscopic study of the earth’s atmosphere and measure the variations in polarisation from the clouds on earth. The payload, realised at the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, is designed to accumulate signatures of exoplanets that would qualify for habitability.
On Wednesday, Isro performed the spacecraft’s final lunar-bound manoeuvre ahead of the lander separation, placing it on an orbit of 153 km x 163 km.