Bengaluru | India’s Chandrayaan-2 has left Earth’s orbit on Wednesday and is moving towards the mission’s goal, the Moon.
Launched by ISRO, space agency said it has carried out a manoeuvre called ‘Trans Lunar Insertion’ (TLI) at 2:21 am on Wednesday, following which the spacecraft has successfully entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory.
Chandrayaan-2 is predicted to reach on August 20, and landing will be done by September 7.
“Today (August 14, 2019) after the Trans Lunar Insertion (TLI) maneuver operation, #Chandrayaan2 will depart from Earth’s orbit and move towards the Moon (sic),” the ISROtweeted.
“During the final orbit raising of the spacecraft around the earth, the liquid engine was fired for about 1203 seconds. With this, Chandrayaan-2 entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory,” the space agency said.
ISRO said the spacecraft is being continuously monitored.
“Since its launch on July 22 all systems onboard Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft are performing normally,” the ISRO said.
If successful, the mission will make India the fourth country after Russia, the US and China to pull off a soft landing on the Moon.
Following the landing, the rover will roll out and carry out experiments on the surface of the moon. According to the ISRO, the mission objective of Chandrayaan-2 is to develop and demonstrate the key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability, including soft-landing and roving on the lunar surface.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
