India’s Chandrayaan-3 enters lunar orbit in step closer to moon rover soft landing
India moved one step closer to executing a controlled landing on the moon after its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft entered lunar orbit over the weekend, inching toward the surface’s unexplored South Pole.
The Indian Space Research Organization confirmed the spacecraft also “successfully underwent a planned orbit reduction maneuver,” in an update Sunday on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The retrofiring of engines brought it closer to the Moon’s surface.”
The craft is expected to land on the moon on August 23. If successful, it would make India only the fourth country to achieve the complicated feat, behind the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.
Developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Chandrayaan-3 is comprised of a lander, propulsion module and rover. Its aim is to safely land near the challenging terrain of the moon’s South Pole, collect data and conduct a series of scientific experiments to learn more about the moon’s composition.
It blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state on July 14, elevating India’s space ambitions and cementing its status as a growing hub of innovation and technology.
It’s India’s second attempt at a soft landing, after its previous effort failed with the Chandrayaan-2 in 2019. Its first lunar probe, the Chandrayaan-1, orbited the moon and was then deliberately crash-landed onto the lunar surface in 2008.
India moved one step closer to executing a controlled landing on the moon after its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft entered lunar orbit over the weekend, inching toward the surface’s unexplored South Pole. The Indian Space Research Organization confirmed the spacecraft also “successfully underwent a planned orbit reduction maneuver,” in an update Sunday on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The retrofiring…