India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has accomplished its first Moon-bound orbit reduction maneuver, following its successful orbit insertion a day earlier, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Sunday.
A video shared by the Chandrayaan-3 team on Twitter/X shows spectacular views of the Moon that were captured by the spacecraft’s on-board camera during the insertion burn.
The next operation to further reduce the orbit is scheduled for August 9. After the de-orbiting maneuvers, the spacecraft will attempt a soft landing on the Moon’s surface on August 23.
Chandrayaan-3, the third Indian lunar exploration mission, was launched on July 14 and is aimed at landing softly on the Moon’s surface.
If the mission is successful, India will have become the fourth country to have achieved a soft lunar landing, joining the US, the Soviet Union and China. It will also have the unique distinction to be the first nation to land on the lunar south pole.
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