Chennai: The Indian space agency Tuesday successfully raised Chandrayaan-2’s orbit for fifth time at 3.04 pm.
According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the orbit of Chandrayaan-2 was raised to an orbit of 276×142,975 km by firing the spacecraft’s onboard motors for 1,041 seconds.
All spacecraft parameters were normal. The next manoeuver is Trans Lunar Insertion (TLI), which is scheduled on August 14, 2019, between 3-4 am.
The Chandrayaan-2 was injected into an elliptical orbit of 170×45,475 km July 22 by India’s heavy lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) in a text book style.
The spacecraft comprises three segments — the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads), the lander ‘Vikram’ (1,471 kg, four payloads) and rover ‘Pragyan’ (27 kg, two payloads).
The Indian space agency said the major activities include Earth-bound manoeuvres, the trans-lunar insertion, lunar-bound manoeuvres, Vikram’s separation from Chandrayaan-2 and touch down on the Moon’s South Pole.
The ISRO said the trans-lunar insertion of Chandrayaan-2, which will send it to the moon, is scheduled August 14.
After that, the Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled to reach the Moon by August 20 and the lander Vikram will land on the Earth’s sole satellite September 7.