Earlier ISRO had said that the touchdown would take place at at 5.47 pm on August 23. Now, it has been moved back by 17 minutes.
The second and final deboosting (slowing down) operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km. The module would undergo internal checks and await the sunrise at the designated landing site. The powered descent is expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 hrs IST,” ISRO said in a post on 'X' (formerly Twitter) in the early hours of Sunday.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
— ISRO (@isro) August 19, 2023
The second and final deboosting operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km.
The module would undergo internal checks and await the sun-rise at the designated landing site.
The powered descent is expected to commence on August… pic.twitter.com/7ygrlW8GQ5
According to ISRO, India's pursuit of space exploration will reach a remarkable milestone with the Chandrayaan-3 mission poised to achieve a soft landing on the surface of the Moon. This achievement marks a significant step forward for Indian Science, Engineering, Technology, and Industry, symbolising our nation's progress in space exploration, it said.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 and seeks to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are to achieve safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate the rover's mobility on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
The lander has the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the rover that will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the Moon's surface during the course of its movements. The lander and the rover are carrying scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.
(With agency inputs)