Days away from the historic moon landing the second de-orbiting maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performed successfully today September 4 beginning at 0342 hrs IST as planned, using the on board propulsion system. The duration of the maneuver was 9 seconds.
The orbit of Vikram Lander is 35 km x 101 km. Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter continues to orbit the Moon in an orbit of 96 km x 125 km and both the Orbiter and Lander are healthy.
The first de-orbiting maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performed successfully on September 3 at 8:50 am as planned, using the onboard propulsion system. The duration of the manoeuvre was 4 seconds
With this maneuver, the required orbit for the Vikram Lander to commence its descent towards the surface of the Moon is achieved. The Lander is scheduled to powered descent between 0100 – 0200 hrs IST on September 7, which is then followed by the touchdown of Lander between 0130 – 0230 hrs IST.
