To continue Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload’s operation in the propulsion module for Earth observation, it was decided to re-orbit the propulsion module to a suitable Earth orbit, Isro said.
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This mission plan was also worked out to prevent the propulsion module from crashing on the Moon’s surface or entering the Earth’s geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) belt at 36,000 km and orbits below that.
As per current orbit prediction, there are no threats of close approach with any operational Earth-orbiting satellites, Isro said.
“Considering the estimated fuel availability and the safety to GEO spacecrafts, the optimal Earth return trajectory was designed for October this year,” Isro added.
As per the plan, SHAPE payload is being operated whenever Earth is in its field of view. Also, a special operation of the SHAPE payload was carried out on October 28 this year during a solar eclipse. The payload operations will continue further, Isro said.
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The initial plan was to operate this payload for about three months during the mission life of the propulsion module. The precise orbit injection by Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) and optimal earth/ lunar burn manoeuvre, resulted in the availability of over 100 kg of fuel in the propulsion module after over one month of operations in the lunar orbit, the space agency said on Tuesday morning.“It was decided to use the available fuel in the propulsion module to derive additional information for future lunar missions and demonstrate the mission operation strategies for a sample return mission,” Isro said in a statement.
The primary objective of the Chandrayaan-3 mission was to demonstrate a soft landing near the lunar south pole and perform experiments using the instruments on Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover.
The spacecraft was launched on July 14 this year onboard (LVM3-M4) vehicle from Sriharikota. On August 23, the Vikram lander made a historic touchdown on the Moon and subsequently the Pragyan rover was deployed.
The scientific instruments in the lander and the rover were operated continuously for one lunar day as per the defined mission life. The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 have been completely met, said Isro.
Regarding the propulsion module, the main objective was to ferry the lander module from a geosynchronous transfer orbit to the final lunar polar circular orbit and separate the lander. After separation, SHAPE payload in the propulsion module was also operated.
