India’s Moon probe enters lunar orbit

21 August 2019, 5:21 pm

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BANGALORE, India — India’s Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft enters lunar orbit, executing one of the trickiest maneuvers on its historic mission to the Moon.

After four weeks in space, the craft completed its Lunar Orbit Insertion as planned, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says in a statement.

The insertion “was completed successfully today at 0902 hrs IST (0332 GMT) as planned, using the onboard propulsion system. The duration of manoeuver was 1738 seconds,” the national space agency said.

India is seeking to become just the fourth nation after Russia, the United States and China to land a spacecraft on the Moon.

If the rest of the mission goes to plan, the Indian probe will land on the lunar South Pole on September 7.

— AFP