NEW DELHI, Sep 2 (AP) — The landing module of India’s unmanned moon mission separated from the orbiter on Monday ahead of its planned touchdown on the moon’s south polar region this weekend, the space agency said.
All the systems of orbiter and the lander are “healthy,” the Indian Space Research Organization said in a statement.
Monday’s maneuver removed the lander from the orbiter’s top, where it had been sitting since the mission took off from southern India on July 22. The module has currently reached a distance of about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the moon’s surface, the space agency said.
The module will attempt India’s first moon landing on a relatively flat surface on Sept. 7 to study previously discovered water deposits. The roughly $140 million mission is known as Chandrayaan-2, the Sanskrit word for “moon craft.”
Chandrayaan-1 orbited the moon in 2008 and helped confirm the presence of water.
Space agency chairman Dr. K. Sivan has said that landing on the lunar surface involves a lot of technical complexities — an event he described as “15 terrifying minutes.”
If India did manage the landing, it would be only the fourth country to do so after the U.S., Russia and China.
India plans to send humans into space by 2022.
Do not make expressions casting dout on election: EC
14 Apr, 2022CM Bhatta says may New Year 2079 BS inspire positive thinking
14 Apr, 2022Three new cases, 44 recoveries in 24 hours
14 Apr, 2022689 climbers of 84 teams so far acquire permits for climbing various peaks this spring season
14 Apr, 2022How the rising cost of living crisis is impacting Nepal
14 Apr, 2022US military confirms an interstellar meteor collided with Earth
14 Apr, 2022Valneva Covid vaccine approved for use in UK
14 Apr, 2022Chair Prachanda highlights need of unity among Maoist, Communist forces
14 Apr, 2022Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt: Bollywood toasts star couple on wedding
14 Apr, 2022President Bhandari confers decorations (Photo Feature)
14 Apr, 2022