As Indias Chandrayaan-3 is all set to reach the Moon surface on August 23, the second and final de-boosting operation has successfully completed in the wee hours of Sunday (August 20), according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).Chandrayaan-3s next stop is MoonThe lander Vikram has placed itself in an orbit where the closest point to the Moon is 25 km and the farthest is 134 km. Now, from this orbit that it will try a soft landing in the unexplored south-polar region of the Moon on Wednesday, said ISRO.Chandrayaan-3 Mission:The second and final deboosting operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km. The module would undergo internal checks and await the sun-rise at the designated landing site. The powered descent is expected to commence on August… pic.twitter.com/7ygrlW8GQ5— ISRO (@isro) August 19, 2023Taking it to X (formerly known as X), the ISRO, “The second and final de-boosting operation has successfully reduced the LM orbit to 25 km x 134 km. The module would undergo internal checks and await the sun-rise at the designated landing site. The powered descent is expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 Hrs. IST.”Vikram has been descending in the lunar orbit in an automated mode, it has been deciding on its own how to go about its functions.Chandrayaan-3 design same as its predecessorDuring the fire de-boosting operation on Friday, Ex-ISRO chief K Sivan told the media that the Chandrayaan-3 landers design is the same as the one used in the previous Chandrayaan-2 mission.“There is no change in design. Based on observations from Chandrayaan-2, all errors that took place in the mission have been corrected,” he said.After the successful landing, India will become the fourth country to land on the Moons surface.On Thursday, the lander module separated from the propulsion module that had carried it from Earth. The propulsion module will continue orbiting Earth for months or even years, studying its atmosphere and measuring the polarisation of light from clouds.Reaching the Moon, the lander Vikram is set to photograph the Pragyaan rover, which will study the chemical makeup of the Moons surface and search for water. It has a lifespan of one lunar day, equivalent to 14 days on Earth.
