Chandrayaan-1 now in lunar transfer trajectory
After launch on 22 October, the spacecraft was first injected into an elliptical 7-hr orbit around Earth, between 255 km and 22 860 km above our planet.
After five engine firings, Chandrayaan-1 spiralled outwards in increasingly elongated ellipses around Earth, until it reached its lunar transfer orbit on 4 November at 00:26 CET (04:56 Indian standard time).
In the fifth and last orbit-raising manoeuvre, the spacecraft’s 440 Newton liquid-fuel propelled engine was fired for about two and a half minutes. The lunar transfer orbit’s farthest point from Earth is about 380 000 km.
The spacecraft, which is being monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at the Indian Space Research Organisation’s ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore, is working very well. Chandrayaan-1’s Terrain Mapping camera (TMC) was successfully tested on 29 October and provided its first images, depicting Earth.
Chandrayaan-1 will approach the Moon on 8 November 2008 when the spacecraft’s liquid-fuel propelled engine will be fired again. This manoeuvre, called lunar orbit insertion, will decelerate the spacecraft to allow the Moon’s gravity to capture it into an elliptical lunar orbit. A series of further manoeuvres will then progressively lower the altitude of Chandrayaan-1 around the Moon until it reaches its final 100 km circular orbit.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMMUT4KXMF_index_0.htmlAll latest news from the category: Physics and Astronomy
This area deals with the fundamental laws and building blocks of nature and how they interact, the properties and the behavior of matter, and research into space and time and their structures.
innovations-report provides in-depth reports and articles on subjects such as astrophysics, laser technologies, nuclear, quantum, particle and solid-state physics, nanotechnologies, planetary research and findings (Mars, Venus) and developments related to the Hubble Telescope.
Newest articles
Sea slugs inspire highly stretchable biomedical sensor
USC Viterbi School of Engineering researcher Hangbo Zhao presents findings on highly stretchable and customizable microneedles for application in fields including neuroscience, tissue engineering, and wearable bioelectronics. The revolution in…
Twisting and binding matter waves with photons in a cavity
Precisely measuring the energy states of individual atoms has been a historical challenge for physicists due to atomic recoil. When an atom interacts with a photon, the atom “recoils” in…
Nanotubes, nanoparticles, and antibodies detect tiny amounts of fentanyl
New sensor is six orders of magnitude more sensitive than the next best thing. A research team at Pitt led by Alexander Star, a chemistry professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich…