Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver was completed successfully today (August 20) at 0902 hrs IST as planned, using the onboard propulsion system
Bengaluru: After four weeks of orbiting space, Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver was successful today (August 20) at 9:02 am IST as planned, using the onboard propulsion system.
The duration of maneuver was 1,738 seconds. With this, Chandrayaan-2 was successfully inserted into a lunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 114 km x 18072 km.
Following this, a series of orbit maneuvers will be performed on Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft to enable it to enter its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the moon’s surface.
Subsequently, the lander will separate from the Orbiter and enters into a 100 km X 30 km orbit around the moon. Then, it will perform a series of complex braking maneuvers to soft land in the South polar region of the Moon on September 7, 2019.
The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Byalalu, near Bengaluru. All the systems of Chandrayaan-2 are healthy.
The next Lunar bound orbit maneuver is scheduled tomorrow (August 21, 2019) between 1230-13:30 hrs IST.
On Monday, ISRO Chairman K Sivan had called the step “challenging”. This was one of the trickiest operations in the mission because if the satellite approached the Moon at a higher-than-expected velocity it would bounce off it and get lost in deep space. But if it approached at a slow velocity, the Moon's gravity would pull the Chandrayaan-2 and it might crash into the surface.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.