Chandrayaan-2 has entered the lunar orbit and is around a fortnight away from landing a rover on the Moon
HIGHLIGHTS
- Chandrayaan-2 is currently in an elliptical orbit around the Moon
- Over the next few days, Chandrayaan-2 will gradually lower its orbit around the Moon
- On September 7, the Chandrayaan-2 lander will attempt a soft landing on the Moon
Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the Moon, entered the lunar orbit at 9:30 am Tuesday, bringing the country closer to accomplishing something that nobody has — landing a rover near the south pole of the Moon.
Over the next few days, Chandrayaan-2, which is carrying a six-wheeled rover, will perform a series of maneuvers to lower its orbit around the Moon. Currently, Chandrayaan-2 is revolving around the Moon in an elliptical orbit — the closest the probe comes to the Moon is 118 kilometers away from the lunar surface, while its farthest point is 18,078 kms.
After performing four sets of orbit maneuvers, Chandrayaan-2 will be primed for its ultimate function — landing the six-wheeled rover, called ‘Pragyaan’, on the Moon. Pragyaan is traveling onboard a lander named Vikram (after the father of Indian space research program, Dr Vikram Sarabhai), which will land on the Moon on September 7.