'Feeling lunar gravity': Chandrayaan-3 successfully inserted into lunar orbit, says ISRO

The manoeuvre was performed when Chandrayaan 3 was at the closest point to the Moon (perilune), ISRO said.

Bengaluru:Chandrayaan-3 has successfully inserted into lunar orbit, the India Space Research Organisation said on Saturday evening. The manoeuvre was performed when Chandrayaan 3 was at the closest point to the Moon (perilune), ISRO said.

"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: “MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity 🌖” Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit. A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC, Bengaluru. The next operation - reduction of orbit – is scheduled for Aug 6, 2023, around 23:00 Hrs. IST," tweeted ISRO on Saturday.

Over five moves in the three weeks since the launch on July 14, ISRO has been lifting the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into orbits farther and farther away from the Earth. Then, on August 1 in a key maneuver -- a slingshot move -- the craft was sent successfully towards the Moon from Earth's orbit.

Following this trans-lunar injection, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft escaped from orbiting the Earth and began following a path that would take it to the vicinity of the moon. The space agency earlier said that the health of India's third lunar mission is normal and a soft landing on the lunar surface would be attempted on August 23. The Chandrayaan 3 spacecraft has covered about two-thirds of the distance to the Moon since its launch on July 14, ISRO said on Friday.