The Propulsion Module (PM) of Chandrayaan-3 was moved from an orbit around the Moon to an orbit around Earth.
“Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Ch-3’s Propulsion Module (PM) takes a successful detour! In another unique experiment, the PM is brought from Lunar orbit to Earth’s orbit. An orbit-raising manoeuvre and a Trans-Earth injection manoeuvre placed PM in an Earth-bound orbit,” the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said in a post on X.
“The primary objective of Chandrayaan-3 mission was to demonstrate soft landing near to lunar south polar region and perform experiments using the instruments on Vikram and Pragyaan.The spacecraft was launched on July 14, 2023 on-board LVM3-M4 vehicle from SDSC, SHAR. On August 23rd Vikram Lander made its historic touch down on Moon and subsequently Pragyan rover was deployed. The scientific instruments in Lander and Rover were operated continuously for 1 lunar day as per the defined mission life. The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 have been completely met,” the ISRO said.
“With regard to Propulsion Module, the main objective was to ferry the Lander module from GTO to the final lunar polar circular orbit and separate the Lander. Subsequent to separation, Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload in the PM was also operated. The initial plan was to operate this payload for about three months during the mission life of PM. The precise orbit injection by LVM3 and optimal earth / lunar burn maneuvers, resulted in the availability of over 100 kg of fuel in the PM after over one month of operations in the lunar orbit. It was decided to use the available fuel in the PM to derive additional information for future lunar missions and demonstrate the mission operation strategiesfor a sample return mission,” it added.
