Vikram, Chandrayaan-3's lander, has separated from the spacecraft. After separating from the propulsion module, the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 will take the first step towards the moon today.
According to ISRO, its de-boosting (slowing of speed) is planned on Friday, August 18 at around 4 pm. Lander 'Vikram' carrying Pragyan (rover) separated from the propulsion module of Chandrayaan-3 on Thursday.
Now India has three spacecraft in the Moon's orbit. Chandrayaan-2's orbiter, Chandrayaan-3's propulsion module and landing module. All three are orbiting the moon.
Through the de-boosting maneuver to be held on Friday, the lander 'Vikram' will reach the 30KMx100KM orbit of the moon. This means 'Vikram' will be delivered to an orbit from where the closest point of the moon, Perilune, will be 30 km away and the outermost point, Apolune, will be 100 km away.
Once an orbit of 30km x 100km is achieved, then the speed of the lander will be slowed down. It will move straight towards the moon.
Vikram will slowly move straight towards moon
From a height of 30 km, it will slowly move straight towards the moon.
Right now it is doing horizontal rotation, then it will be made vertical and it will be ready to land on the lunar surface.
If all goes well, the lander of Chandrayaan-3 will soft-land on the moon on Wednesday (August 23).
No comments:
Post a Comment