BENGALURU: Appearing that India cannot handiest ship items to the Moon but additionally convey them again, ISRO has effectively returned the Chandrayaan-3 Propulsion Module (PM), to begin with meant for lunar operations, to Earth’s orbit after surpassing its lunar undertaking goals.
This marks any other success, following the lunar hop by way of Vikram (lander), showcasing the potential of reigniting engines at the Moon and controlling apparatus — operations that ISRO had no longer to begin with deliberate.The Chandrayaan-3 undertaking, introduced on July 14, 2023, aimed to exhibit a comfortable touchdown close to the lunar south polar area and behavior experiments the use of the Vikram Lander and Pragyaan rover. With the Vikram Lander creating a historical landing at the Moon on August 23, and the undertaking’s goals fulfilled, consideration became to the excess gasoline of the PM.
Using leading edge undertaking methods, ISRO made up our minds to increase the PM’s operational lifestyles and leverage its final gasoline for long run lunar missions. After cautious making plans and maneuvering, the PM’s trajectory used to be adjusted to transition from lunar orbit to Earth orbit, fending off attainable collisions with the Moon or Earth’s GEO belt.”The go back maneuvers, initiated in October 2023, concerned elevating the apolune altitude and appearing a Trans-Earth Injection (TEI) maneuver. The PM finished 4 Moon flybys sooner than departing the Moon’s Sphere of Affect (SOI) on November 10,” ISRO stated.
Recently, it orbits Earth, having crossed its first perigee on November 22, and not using a threats to operational satellites in keeping with present orbit predictions, it added.The SHAPE payload onboard the PM, designed for Earth statement, continues to perform as deliberate. ISRO’s flight dynamics staff has advanced a complicated research instrument for this operation, demonstrating ISRO’s dedication to advancing area exploration functions.
“Key results from the go back maneuvers come with trajectory making plans for Moon-to-Earth transitions, instrument module construction for maneuver making plans, execution of gravity-assisted flybys, and the avoidance of out of control crashing to fulfill particles advent requirements,” ISRO stated.
The a success repositioning of the PM no longer handiest extends its undertaking lifestyles but additionally contributes precious insights and functions for long run lunar missions.
