Sriharikota, August 13: Chandrayaan 2, India's lunar mission is close to reaching the surface of the moon in the coming days. The Chandrayaan 2, which is presently revolving in a highly elliptical orbit around the Earth, will be injected in a trans-lunar path on Wednesday. At present, the Chandrayaan-2 composite body is now revolving around the earth. The scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists will send the spacecraft towards the direction of the moon to cover most of the 384,400-km distance between the Earth and its satellite. Chandrayaan 2 Explained! When Will ISRO's GSLV-Mk III Reach Moon And What Will Happen After That?

ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan had said that that Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft is expected to reach the moon’s orbit on August 20 and land on the lunar surface on September 7. On August 12, Sivan said the spacecraft is all set to leave the earth’s orbit after two days, which is on August 14. He added saying that the next very important and crucial maneuver will happen on Wednesday morning.

Most Crucial Trans-Lunar Injection on August 14

On Wednesday, August 14, Chandrayaan-2 will get closer to the moon as it will be injected in a trans-lunar path. The ISRO Chief said, at around 3.30 am on August 14, ISRO will conduct a maneuver called trans-lunar injection. By this maneuver, the Chandrayaan-2 will leave the earth and move towards the moon. On August 20, the spacecraft will be reaching the moon.

The ISRO will then carry out lunar orbit insertion. By this process, the Chandrayaan-2 will be around the moon on August 20. Sivan said the spacecraft was “doing very well” at present and all its systems were functioning properly. "Subsequently, we have planned to have a series of maneuvers around the moon and finally on September 7, we will be landing on the moon near its south pole,” he added.

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On July 22, the 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2, a three-module spacecraft comprising orbiter, lander and rover, was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. After launching Chandrayaan-2 on July 22, the ISRO did five maneuvers.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 13, 2019 10:14 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).