Chandrayaan-3’s next stop: What has ISRO planned for August 5?

ISRO is anticipating the spacecraft’s soft landing on the Moon, scheduled to happen on 5th August

On Tuesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) made an exciting announcement about the progress of Chandrayaan-3. They reported that on 1st August 2023, Chandrayaan-3 accomplished another significant milestone by completing its TransLunar Injection (TLI). This means that the spacecraft has successfully completed its orbits around Earth and has been precisely injected into a trajectory that will guide it toward the moon.

To put it in simple terms, Chandrayaan-3 has passed a critical stage in its journey where it has left the Earth’s gravitational influence and is now on its way to the moon. The spacecraft’s health has been confirmed to be normal, indicating that everything is going as planned.

“A successful perigee-firing performed at ISTRAC, ISRO has injected the spacecraft into the translunar orbit. Next stop: the Moon” said ISRO in a tweet. Following that, Chandrayaan-3 is all set to enter its next phase – scheduled for 5th August. Setting about on its final journey, ISRO has the Lunar-Orbit Insertion (LOI) planned, once Chandrayaan-3 arrives on the moon.

Ever since its launch on 14th July 2023, ISRO has been continuously monitoring the spacecraft’s health and performance to ensure that it avoids any hindrances and overcomes the issue of crashing faced by Chandrayaan-2, as it swerved away from its intended trajectory on 6 September 2019. ISRO is eagerly anticipating the spacecraft’s triumphant arrival on the moon, the most awaited part of the journey.

Chandryaan-3 has progressively been lifted and placed into its precise orbits over the past few weeks post its launch. One of the primary objectives of this mission is to ensure a safe landing on the moon. Since the spacecraft has completed its orbits around the Earth, it is preparing for a critical maneuver to insert itself into the moon’s inner orbits on 5^th August. This significant milestone will pave the way for Chandrayaan-3 to establish close proximity to the moon, setting the stage for the much-anticipated LOI.