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ISRO's Skill Shines: Chandrayaan-3 Confidently Enters Lunar Orbit
The Chandrayaan-3 mission achieved a significant breakthrough in its journey to explore the lunar surface with the successful completion of the Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver on August 5, 2023. The maneuver, executed flawlessly by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), marks a pivotal step in the mission's objective to softly land on the Moon's South Polar region.
The LOI maneuver involved retro-burning at the Perilune for a duration of 1835 seconds, commencing at 19:12 Hrs. IST. This operation resulted in Chandrayaan-3 being inserted into a desired orbit of 164 km x 18074 km around the Moon.
Impressively, this accomplishment comes as the third consecutive instance of ISRO's prowess in accurately placing spacecraft into lunar orbits, in addition to achieving a similar feat with the Martian orbit insertion.
As the mission advances, a meticulously planned series of maneuvers will progressively adjust Chandrayaan-3's orbit, gradually positioning it over the lunar poles. A sequence of maneuvers will follow, leading to the separation of the propulsion module from the lander while both are in orbit. Subsequently, a complex set of braking maneuvers will be executed, ultimately leading to a soft landing in the Moon's South Polar region on August 23, 2023.
Throughout this journey, the health of Chandrayaan-3 remains optimal. Continuous monitoring is being conducted from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC). Additionally, the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antenna at Byalalu, near Bengaluru, in collaboration with support from the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Deep space antenna, ensures robust communication and tracking capabilities.
The upcoming phase of the mission holds the next Lunar bound orbit maneuver, scheduled for August 6, 2023, between 22:30 and 23:30 Hrs. IST. With each successful step, Chandrayaan-3 inches closer to its ambitious goal of further unraveling the mysteries of the lunar terrain.