This reflects ISRO’s  preparations  for future missions that  require  spacecraft to not only  successfully  land  on the  Moon  but also take off from  there  and  return  to Earth.  The Indian  space agency is  about  to  return  samples  from the  Moon  or  meet  Prime Minister Narendra  Modi’s goal  of  sending Indians to the Moon  by 2040.  Propulsion  module used to  transport  the  Lunar Lander  moon for  the  Chandrayaan-3 mission has been  returned  to  orbit around  Earth, the Indian Space Research  Organization  (Isro) announced on Tuesday.  

 The propulsion module will remain in orbit around  Earth for  one  year.  

 This experiment, which began with the first  orbital pass  on October 9, helped Isro plan and execute  the return orbit  to Earth.  Although  the space agency has successfully  put  spacecraft  into  orbit around the  Moon  three times, this is the first time it has  reported anything.  

 This,  along with  the  Hop  experiment conducted  towards  the end of  the  life of the Chandrayaan-3 lander,  provides insight into Isro’s preparations  for future missions that  require the spacecraft to not only land successfully  took off  on the  Moon  but also  had to  take off from  there  and make  the return route  to Earth.  

 The current experiment is also the first time the space agency has demonstrated a  gravity-powered flight  not around Earth but  around  another celestial body.  Gravity-assisted  flyby is a technique  in which the  gravity of a planet or celestial body is used to redirect,  accelerate,  and  launch  a spacecraft  toward  Earth.  

 The experiment  also helped Isro test software  capable of planning  such  an operation. Returning  the propulsion module  to Earth  not only  prevents it  from  falling to  the  Moon  at the end of its life, but also  prevents it  from entering geostationary orbit and colliding with other satellites.  “Taking into account  fuel availability and the  estimated  safety  of the  GEO  spacecraft, an  optimal  return trajectory  to Earth is  designed for October 2023,” the space agency said. 

  The first  maneuver  of the propulsion module was performed on October 9, increasing the orbit around the  Moon from 150 km  to 5,112  km. This  increases  the time it takes the spacecraft to  orbit  the moon from 2.1 hours to 7.2 hours. Another  maneuver  was  carried out  on October 13 to increase the orbit to 1.8  lakh  x 3.8  lakh  km. The propulsion module  circled  the  Moon  four times before  leaving  its sphere of influence on November 10. 

  Currently,  the propulsion module  orbits  the Earth at an altitude of about 1.54 lakh km, reaching  an  altitude of 1.15  lakh km  at its  closest point.  The orbit is  about  13 days.  “According to  current  orbital forecasts,  there is no threat  from  close approach  to an active satellite  orbiting  Earth,”  the space agency said. 

  The payload  on  the propulsion module, called SHAPE, will continue to conduct spectroscopic  studies  of  Earth’s  atmosphere from its new orbit. The payload  is  designed to try to pick up signals that will help scientists understand  signs  of life on  planets  other  than  our solar system.  

For more information visit at https://happenrecently.com/zepto/?amp=1