India's moon mission's spacecraft is scheduled for a soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon on August 23, post successive orbit reduction manoeuvres on August 6, 9 and 14.
Chandrayaan-3- India’s third Moon mission’s spacecraft successfully completed a fifth and final Moon-bound orbit manoeuvre, bringing it closer to the lunar surface. The spacecraft has successfully undergone its lunar bound manoeuvres and will now prepare for the propulsion module and the lander module separation, ISRO concurred.
"Today's successful firing, needed for a short duration, has put Chandrayaan-3 into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km, as intended. With this, the lunar bound maneuvres are completed.It’s time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module gear up for their separate journeys," the national space agency tweeted.
The lander module’s separation from the propulsion module is planned for August 17, ISRO added. Chandrayaan-3 entered into the lunar orbit on August 5, post its launch on July 14, following which it underwent three successive orbit reduction manoeuvres to move closer to the moon, on August 6, 9 and 14.
ISRO is conducting a series of manoeuvres to steadily reduce the spacecraft’s orbit and position it over the lunar poles, a soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon is scheduled on August 23.