India Moon Lander crosses another step |
Indian Space Research Organisation`s dream project Chandrayaan 2 successfully completed one more phase of its journey to the moon as the lander separated from the Orbiter on Monday afternoon. On Sunday evening, ISRO successfully carried out fifth and final orbit manoeuvre of Chandrayaan 2 to refine its circular path around the moon. The orbiter will remain in its orbit for a planned one year. The composite Chandrayaan-2 has the orbiter, the lander and the rover. The 1.5-ton lander carries in its belly the 27 kg rover. The mission of the lander is to soft-land on the lunar South Pole and to safely unleash the rover. The lander and the rover have a mission life of a single lunar day or 14 days of the earth. The rover Pragyaan has two devices to probe the elemental composition of lunar soil near its landing site and derive the elemental abundance there. The powered descent of the lander will be initiated early on September 7, resulting in its much-awaited soft-landing on the near-South Pole of the moon. After a few hours of soft-landing, the rover will come out of the lander`s belly and probe the nature of the lunar soil around its path. Once the mission is realized, India will become the fourth country to achieve soft-landing on the moon.
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