Chandrayaan-1 to enter lunar orbit on November 8

Posted By Emily Lakdawalla

2008/11/05 09:58 CST

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Both the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and ESA have issued press statements about the final adjustment to Chandrayaan-1's Earth orbit, on November 3 at 23:26 UTC. In its fifth orbit-raising maneuver, while at its closest approach to Earth, Chandrayaan-1 fired its engines to place it on an orbit whose apogee is about 380,000 kilometers from Earth. This is finally far enough for Chandrayaan-1 to get close enough to the Moon that one final rocket firing will settle Chandrayaan-1 into lunar orbit.

ESA gave a helpful list of the dates on which the previous four orbit-raising maneuvers were performed: 23, 25, 26 and 29 October 2008.

ISRO states that "Since its launch on October 22 by PSLV-C11, all systems onboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft are performing normally."

Stay tuned for news on Chandrayaan-1's progress to the Moon!