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India has reached the Moon!

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla

2008/11/08 08:56 CST

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Congratulations are due to India: Chandrayaan-1 entered lunar orbit today, adding India to the select group of nations who have sent spacecraft into the gravitational grip of another world. The orbit insertion burn took place at 16:51 IST (11:21 UTC), and Chandrayaan-1 is now in an elliptical orbit whose perilune is about 504 kilometers and apolune is about 7,502 kilometers. Over the coming days, ISRO will lower and circularize Chandrayaan-1's polar orbit until it circles the Moon at an altitude of 100 kilometers.