Chandrayaan-2 Successfully Performs Second Earth-bound Orbit, Next on July 29

The grand spacecraft will be hitting the Moon’s surface on September 7, 2019.

New Delhi: Moving successfully, spacecraft Chandrayaan-2 on Friday performed its second orbit-raising manoeuvre in the early hours of the day.

“Second earth bound orbit raising maneuver for #Chandrayaan2 spacecraft has been performed today (July 26, 2019) at 0108 hrs (IST) as planned (sic),” ISRO tweeted.

The grand spacecraft will be hitting the Moon’s surface on September 7, 2019.

The next orbit-raising manoeuvres have been scheduled for July 29, August 2 and August 6 respectively.

The first Earth-bound orbit-raising manoeuvre for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was successfully performed on Wednesday afternoon.

In the run-up to the launch, ISRO chief K Sivan had said that the Chandrayaan-2 will perform 15 manoeuvres in all. Sivan had said that the spacecraft would be making a soft landing on the moon, “it will land on the South Pole. There is a lot of scientific testing to be done regarding the mission. Scientists around the world are looking forward to the launch”.

The historic launch of India’s second moon mission grabbed attention globally with politicians, celebrities and even the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) congratulating the ISRO team.

India’s low-cost, homegrown technology that has powered its space programme is a source of national pride and inspiration, leading American newspaper The Washington Post had said.

The spacecraft was originally supposed to take off on July 15, but it was aborted just 56 minutes before the launch after suffering a technical glitch. However, the spacecraft was ready for flight again exactly one week later.