India’s second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, is scheduled to enter lunar orbit Aug. 20 following a relatively circuitous journey to the moon. Back on Earth, India’s future space ambitions are also developing.
The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft entered lunar transfer trajectory Aug. 13 following five orbit maneuvers to raise its initial elliptical geocentric orbit after launch July 22.
Chandrayaan-2’s trek will continue in a step-by-step fashion, with four further planned orbit maneuvers to reduce an initial 118- by 18,078-kilometer orbit into a 100- by 100-kilometer lunar polar orbit by Sept. 1. There, the orbiter will spend at least a year mapping and analyzing the surface with a suite of imagers and instruments.
The mission’s 1,471-kilogram Vikram lander, accompanied by the 27-kilogram Pragyan rover, will subsequently separate the next day in preparation for a landing which, if successful, would make India the fourth country to soft-land on the moon, following the U.S. China, and the former Soviet Union, and also the closest touchdown to the south pole so far.
Back on the ground, India has meanwhile been maneuvering to secure future lunar collaboration — with an eye on geopolitics.
What happens Next ?
On September 7, the spacecraft’s lander, Vikram, is expected to soft-land on the south pole of the Moon and unleash the rover to explore the surface.
According to Isro, after 13 days of Moon-bound orbit phase, the lander ‘Vikram’ carrying rover ‘Pragyan’ will separate and after another few days of orbiting will soft land on September 7 in the South Pole region of the Moon, where no country has gone so far, according to Isro.
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.
Earth, as seen by Chandrayaan
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