Vikram all set for moon landing

Chennai, September 4

India's first moon lander Vikram is all set to land on the satellite on September 7 with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) completing the second and final de-orbital operations successfully on Wednesday.

According to the Indian space agency ISRO, Vikaram's second de-orbital operations began at 3.42 am using the on-board propulsion system and was completed in nine seconds.

The orbit of Vikram Lander is 35 km x 101 km.

With this operation the required orbit for the Vikram to commence it descent towards the surface of the Moon is achieved, ISRO said.

According to the Indian space agency, Vikram is scheduled to powered descent between 1 am-2 am on September 7.

The touchdown on the Moon's south polar region will be between 1.30 am-2.30 am, ISRO said.

After the moon touch down by Vikram, the rover Pragyan will roll down from the former to carry out the research for which it was designed.

Meanwhile, Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter continue to go around the moon in an orbit of 96 km x 125 km.

Both the Orbiter and Vikram are in good health, ISRO said.

On Monday afternoon, the Vikram got separated from its mother spacecraft Chandrayaan-2.

On July 22, the Rs 978 crore Chandrayaan-2 was launched into the space by India's heavy lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) in a text book style. — IANS