Following the LOI, the spacecraft embarked on its mission to get even closer to the moon's surface and shared pictures of the moon as captured
The Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) stage of the spacecraft planned by ISRO took place on 5th August, Saturday, and was undoubtedly a success. Following the Lunar Orbit Insertion, the entire nation eagerly awaited the pictures of the moon as captured by Chandrayaan-3. The wait came to an end on the 6th of August, Sunday, when ISRO proudly shared the first few captivating pictures of the lunar surface.
The Moon, as viewed by #Chandrayaan3 spacecraft during Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) on August 5, 2023.#ISRO pic.twitter.com/xQtVyLTu0c
— LVM3-M4/CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION (@chandrayaan_3) August 6, 2023
Since its launch, ISRO has executed a series of orbital maneuvers, skillfully pushing the spacecraft farther away from Earth and gradually closer to the lunar surface. Each mission step involved placing the spacecraft into progressively higher orbits around the Earth. By doing so, ISRO carefully planned to put the spacecraft on the desired trajectory toward the moon. The ultimate goal is to soft-land the spacecraft within the moon’s inner orbits, the south polar region specifically, which no country has explored to date.
The succession of the Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) took place on 5th August placing the spacecraft at 164 km x 18074 km from the moon’s surface. Following the LOI, the spacecraft embarked on its mission to get closer to the moon’s surface. On 6th August, just a day after the LOI, ISRO executed the first Lunar orbit maneuver, i.e., Chandrayaan-3 was placed into an orbit that brought it within 170 km x 4314 km of the moon’s surface. Similarly, on 9th August, the next critical Lunar orbit maneuver is scheduled. During this maneuver, the spacecraft’s orbit is planned to be further reduced, bringing it even closer to the moon.
The health of the spacecraft is of the utmost importance, and it is being continuously monitored by the Mission Operations Complex (MOC), as stated by ISRO. Fortunately, the reports have been consistently positive, with the spacecraft’s health being recorded as “normal”, indicating that it’s in its intended orbit.
With everything proceeding as per plan and each milestone being executed precisely, the most awaited soft landing of the spacecraft on the moon’s south polar region is scheduled for 23rd August.
