LVM3 M4 vehicle🚀 successfully launched Chandrayaan-3🛰️ into orbit.
Chandrayaan-3's trajectory to the moon is beautifulSpace engineers >>>>>
Back from a nap and #Chandrayaan3's radio signal has substantially improved from just after launch. Possibly indication of successful deployment of solar panels and raising the beacon's output power.
#Chandrayaan3 is about to do its first orbit raising burn at 2023-07-15T06:47 UTC to raise the orbit to about 180x41594. Burn around perigee over the Pacific Ocean. I'll have a great view of the results as it rises to the next apogee over me. Ground track for next day below.
Signal acquired! 📡〰️〰️〰️🛰️📶We hear you loud and clear #Chandrayaan3! 🇮🇳Data are now flowing down from orbit to our Kourou station in French Guiana.From there, they are forwarded to @isro in India via our ESOC #MissionControl centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
The 1s and 0s pouring down from orbit enable #ISRO's operators to monitor the health of the spacecraft after the rigours of launch.Meanwhile, commands to the spacecraft are being sent up in the opposite direction, from India, to Germany, to Kourou and finally up into orbit.
This is the first of a number of support sessions from ESA Kourou.As #Chandrayaan3 begins to leave Earth orbit, we’ll also turn to @goonhillyorg to continue assisting #ISRO with tracking, commanding and receiving data from the spacecraft as it travels onwards towards the #Moon.
ESA Kourou & @goonhillyorg will continue to support #Chandrayaan3 alongside #NASA and #ISRO ground stations during the journey to the Moon, during the lunar descent planned for late August, and through to the end of lunar rover surface operations roughly 14 days later.
AOS of #Chandrayaan3, she made it through the burn!
Chandrayaan-3 Mission update:The spacecraft's health is normal.The first orbit-raising maneuver (Earthbound firing-1) is successfully performed at ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. Spacecraft is now in 41762 km x 173 km orbit.
QuoteChandrayaan-3 Mission update:The spacecraft's health is normal.The first orbit-raising maneuver (Earthbound firing-1) is successfully performed at ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. Spacecraft is now in 41762 km x 173 km orbit.https://twitter.com/isro/status/1680239822110162944
Over the next couple of days @Chandrayaan3 will quietly orbit the Earth preparing for the next boost up. Each boost is in a sequence timed to get the mission to the Moon in the most efficient way possible. Indian 🇮🇳 engineering at its best!
India 🇮🇳 is incredibly good at getting missions to the Moon and Mars with minimal energy input. So far the @ISRO has a 100% track record of getting to either destination.
If all goes as planned, scientists will carry out a minor burning of onboard propulsion systems on Sunday to increase the perigee (closest point to Earth). It will be pushed to about 220km from the current position.
“The perigee will then remain stable. The remaining three manoeuvres we’ve planned will all be for apogee raising,” another scientist said. The three other operations around Earth, as reported by TOI earlier, are planned for July 18, 20 and 25 to push apogee to around 1-lakh-km before Isro attempts to slingshot the spacecraft towards Moon, in the intervening night of July 31 and August 1.
#UPDATE #JUSTIN Second Earth-bound manoeuvre done to increase #Chandrayaan3 perigee today in the evening. Perigee now at a little more than 220km. Three more EBMs this week before TLI. Official note may come a bit later. Pic: For representation /credit: @isro
This was a minor one. Firing lasted only for 42-odd seconds. Data being analysed.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:The second orbit-raising maneuver (Earth-bound apogee firing) is performed successfully.The spacecraft is now in 41603 km x 226 km orbit.The next firing is planned for tomorrow between 2 and 3 pm IST.
Acquisition of signal from #Chandrayaan3 after a minor perigee raising burn during the preceding apogee. The burn raised the perigee slightly, likely to reduce the effects of atmospheric drag over the weeks to come on the orbit.
#Chandrayaan3 update for 2023-07-17.I dialled in the TLE yesterday further to my post yesterday and was able to track the spacecraft accurately even during perigee as JPL Horizons ephemerides isn't up to that task. The residuals are very low. 🧵⬇️
Using @cgbassa's STRF analysis tool the parameters for the new orbit are as follows after the minor perigee raising burn:57320 221km x 41610km x 21.28deg inclination, period 747.92min, eccentricity 0.758223 The perigee was likely raised to reduce atmospheric drag.⬇️
