India's ambitious lunar mission cleared a significant milestone in its race towards the moon as the lander module successfully separated from the spacecraft on Wednesday afternoon. The lander module—comprising the Vikram lander and rover—separated from the propulsion module.
On Wednesday, the spacecraft completed its fifth and final orbit reduction manoeuvre, putting it in an orbit of 153 km x 163 km. "With this, the lunar bound manoeuvres are completed. It's time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module gear up for their separate journeys," ISRO said in a post on X.
After this, the lander will undergo a "deboost" before attempting a soft landing on the south polar region of the moon on August 23. The deboosting, scheduled for 4pm on Friday, will place the landing module into a slightly lower orbit.
All eyes are on India's lunar quest as Russia joined the race with its Luna-25, which is expected to arrive first on the south pole of the moon.
-more details awaited