shubhadeep chowdhury
New Delhi, August 18
On Friday, the day after being disconnected from the propulsion module, the Chandrayaan-3 landing module, consisting of Vikram (the lander) and Pragyan (the spacecraft), performed its first ‘deboost’ maneuver, allowing it to reach the moon ahead of its expected landing. Closer to the face. August 23rd.
“The health of the Lander Module (LM) is normal. The LM has successfully performed a deboost maneuver to reduce its orbit to 113 km x 157 km. IST),” ISRO said on X (formerly Twitter). On Thursday, the Vikram separated from the propulsion module with the Pragyan on board. The orbit of the spacecraft at separation was 153 km x 163 km.
By 23 August, Vikram had to reach the near-Lyun (the point closest to the moon) of about 30 km, from where it would use deboosters that acted as brakes to slow its descent, lifting 1,750 kg. Final descent attempt by lander.
After achieving a soft landing on the lunar surface, a rover (26 kg) inside the lander will come out through the ramp and explore its surroundings. On the probe he has two payloads. The first (Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer or APXS) studies the chemical and mineralogical composition of the lunar surface and the second payload (Laser Induced Decomposition Spectrometer or LIBS) studies the elemental composition of the lunar soil ( Mg, Al, Si, K). , Ca, Ti, Fe) and rocks surrounding the landing site.