First de-orbiting manoeuvre performed for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft: ISRO

Bengaluru: A day after lander ‘Vikram’ was separated from Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter, the ISRO said on Tuesday it has successfully performed the first de-orbiting manoeuvre for the spacecraft.

The city-headquartered space agency will perform one more de-orbit manoeuvre on Wednesday, before the powered descent on September 7 for its landing in the south polar region of the moon.

“The first de-orbiting manoeuvre for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performed successfully today (September 03, 2019) beginning at 0850 hrs IST as planned, using the onboard propulsion system. The duration of the manoeuvre was 4 seconds,” the ISRO said in an update.

“The orbit of Vikram Lander is 104 km x 128 km. Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter continues to orbit the Moon in the existing orbit and both the Orbiter and Lander are healthy,” it said, adding that the next de-orbiting manoeuvre is scheduled on September 4, between 03:30 and 04:30 hrs IST.

In a key event of India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2, lander ‘Vikram’ was separated from the orbiter on Monday.

Vikram (with rover ‘Pragyan’ housed inside) is expected to touch down on the surface of the moon on September 7, between 1:30 and 2:30 am.

Two de-orbit manoeuvres of Vikram Lander, to bring it further down, have been planned to prepare for its landing in the south polar region of the moon.

Following the landing, the rover ‘Pragyan’ will roll out from lander ‘Vikram’ between 5:30 and 6:30 am on September 7, and carry out experiments on the lunar surface for a period of one lunar day, which is equal to 14 earth days.

The mission life of the lander is also one lunar day, while the orbiter will continue its mission for a year.