Chandrayaan-1 nears 75,000 km height, inches closer to Moon

Bangalore, Oct 25 (PTI) India's Chandrayaan-1 has covered 20 percent of its journey towards Moon as Indian Space Research Organisation (I.S.R.O.) scientists Saturday performed the second orbit-raising manoeuvre.

The lunar spacecraft's on-board 440 Newton Liquid engine
was fired for about 16 minutes from 5.48 AM (local time).

With this engine firing, Chandrayaan-1's apogee (farthest
point to earth) has been raised to 74,715 km, while its
perigee (closest point to earth) has been raised to 336 km,
I.S.R.O. spokesperson S. Satish said.

I.S.R.O. chairman G. Madhavan Nair termed Saturday's
orbit-raising operation as "record-breaking".

"So far, Indian-made satellites have reached to a height
of only 36,000 km. Today's firing has taken Chandrayaan-1 to
something like 75,000 km. That's well beyond what we have
reached so far. It was a good event, and done precisely,"
Nair, also secretary in the Department of Space, said.

Indicating the complexity of the India's first unmanned
lunar mission, he said when the spacecraft is closer to the
earth, its gravitational field is well defined and scientists
can shape the trajectory.

"When you go further and further, earth's influence comes
down. Influence of Moon and Sun becomes predominant. Even
other planets will have an influence on it," he said.

Moon lies at a distance of about 3,84,000 km from earth.
I.S.R.O. officials said Chandrayaan-1 is expected to settle
into lunar orbit, 100 km above Moon, on November 8.

All systems on board the spacecraft, launched on October
22, were functioning normally, I.S.R.O. said, adding that
further orbit-raising manoeuvres to take Chandrayaan-1 to
still higher orbits are planned in the next few days. PTI