Marking a significant stride, Chandrayaan-3 made its approach closer to the Moon on Wednesday, an achievement acknowledged by ISRO. The spacecraft effectively maneuvered itself into a near-circular orbit measuring 153×163 km, setting the stage for the imminent separation of the Lander Module on Thursday.

This notable progress follows the fourth and final orbit-reducing maneuver performed by the spacecraft. The composition of the spacecraft includes the Propulsion Module and the lander component, housing the rover.

Upon detachment from the Propulsion Module, the Lander will independently conclude its journey towards the Moon’s surface.

After its on-board instruments, including three scientific payloads, undergo activation and testing, the Lander is slated to execute two orbit-reduction maneuvers. The first aims to transition to a circular 100×100 km orbit, followed by a closer approach to the Moon within the 100×30 km orbit.

From this 100×30 km orbit, the Lander will embark on its final descent, targeting a touchdown on the Moon on August 23.

Notably, during the final descent phase of Chandrayaan-2, moments before touchdown, a malfunction occurred leading to its crash landing.

The ISRO expressed that it’s now time for preparations as both the Propulsion Module and Lander Module gear up for their individual journeys.

Launched on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 successfully entered lunar orbit on August 5.

In light of the lessons learned from Chandrayaan-2, ISRO has introduced several modifications to the Lander. ISRO chairman S. Somanath shared that the space agency adopted a “failure-based approach” during the design process.

With the instruments on board functioning as intended and fulfilling all observations and experiments, Chandrayaan-3 omits the requirement for an Orbiter component, which was present in Chandrayaan-2. However, the Lander Module still necessitated transport to lunar orbit, a task accomplished by the Propulsion Module.

While the primary task of the Propulsion Module concludes after Lander separation, equipped with one instrument, it will continue data collection for several months.

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