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The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has completed approximately two-thirds of its journey to the moon, and a significant Lunar Orbit Injection (LOI) is slated for August 5 around 7:00pm, as confirmed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday.
In a successful perigee burn conducted by ISRO on Tuesday midnight, the spacecraft’s orbit was elevated to bring it within the moon’s gravitational influence. It cruised in an orbit 288 kilometres nearest to Earth and 3,69,328 kilometres at its farthest point.
Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Orbit Injection
Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) is a critical maneuver during a lunar mission where the spacecraft, in this case, Chandrayaan-3, is precisely inserted into orbit around the Moon. This maneuver is carried out when the spacecraft reaches the closest point to the Moon (perilune) and is necessary for the spacecraft to enter and stabilize in its designated lunar orbit.
During the LOI maneuver, the spacecraft’s engines are reportedly fired to slow down and allow the Moon’s gravity to capture it, transitioning from a trajectory around the Earth to a trajectory around the Moon.
It is a crucial step to ensure that the spacecraft can effectively conduct its scientific observations and prepare for subsequent mission objectives, such as attempting a soft landing on the lunar surface or conducting various experiments and observations from the lunar orbit.
Main objectives of Chandrayaan-3
As stated by ISRO three main objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are:
1) Successfully demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface.
2) Showcase the mobility of the Rover on the Moon’s terrain.
3) Conduct in-situ scientific experiments on the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan 3 is India’s ambitious moon mission, launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 14 . It is expected to land on the moon on August 23.
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