India’s first moon lander — Vikram — on Tuesday got nearer to the Moon with the Indian space agency successfully completing the first of the two de-orbital operations.
According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the de-orbital operation began at 8.50 a.m. as planned. Using the onboard propulsion system for 4 seconds the operation was carried out successfully.
The orbit of Vikram Lander is 104 km x 128 km.
The Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter continues to orbit the Moon in the existing orbit and both the Orbiter and Lander are healthy.
The next de-orbiting operation is scheduled on Wednesday between 3.30 a.m – 4.30 a.m.
On Monday afternoon, Vikram got separated from its mother spacecraft Chandrayaan-2.
Vikram is scheduled to land on the south polar region of the moon on September 7 between 1.30 a.m. to 2.30 a.m.
After the moon touchdown by Vikram, the rover — Pragyan — will roll down from the former to carry out the research for which it was designed.
Meanwhile, the Orbiter continues to fly around the moon.
On July 22, the Rs 978-crore Chandrayaan-2 was launched into space by India’s heavy lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) in a text book style launch.