Chandrayaan-3 enters Lunar Orbit

Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar probe, has come a long way on its mission to the moon. On July 31, the spacecraft carried out a Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI), in which its engines were fired for an extended period of time to propel it away from the gravitational pull of the Earth and towards the moon.

In order to prepare for the scheduled Lunar soft-landing on August 23rd at 5:47 pm (IST), the ship will undertake engine burns to move into orbits closer to the moon after being captured in lunar orbit. At about 70 degrees latitude, the lunar south pole is the target of the soft landing.

If successful, India will join China, the United States, and Russia as the fourth country to accomplish this accomplishment.

On July 14, India's largest rocket, LVM3, launched Chandrayaan-3 into Earth orbit, making it the rocket's seventh successful flight. The Lunar spacecraft is made up of a 1750 kg lander (with a rover) and a 26 kg rover. Six payloads are installed on the lander, rover, and propulsion module.

The spacecraft will utilise its internal engines to slow down when it enters lunar orbit, where it will be grabbed and start orbiting the moon in a highly elliptical path.

The "Moon Man of India," Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai, who was instrumental in India's first lunar expedition, Chandrayaan-1, is in charge of the Chandrayaan-3 project.