WASHINGTON — The spacecraft that transported the Chandrayaan-3 lander to the moon has returned to Earth orbit, a demonstration of technologies to support a future Indian lunar sample return mission.
The Indian space agency ISRO announced Dec. 4 that the propulsion module for the Chandrayaan-3 mission is now in a high orbit around the Earth after a series of maneuvers since October that returned the spacecraft from a low lunar orbit. ISRO had not previously disclosed any efforts to return the propulsion module to Earth orbit.
The main purpose of the 2,145-kilogram propulsion module was to transport the Chandrayaan-3 lander from an initial elliptical Earth orbit to low lunar orbit. The module, a modified version of ISRO’s I-3K satellite bus, performed several maneuvers starting a day after its July 14 launch to raise the apogee of the orbit, followed by a translunar injection burn and lunar orbit insertion burn. The module than moved into a nearly circular orbit about 150 kilometers above the moon before the lander separated Aug. 17.
The lander successfully touched down on the moon Aug. 23. The propulsion module remained in orbit, operating a single instrument called Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth, or SHAPE, to observe the Earth. ISRO provided little information about the propulsion module after the lander separated.
In a statement, ISRO said that it decided to attempt to bring the propulsion module back to Earth orbit after determining that the precision of the launch and earlier maneuvers left more than 100 kilograms of propellant on the spacecraft. The first maneuver in that plan took place Oct. 9, raising the apolune, or high point in its orbit around the moon, from 150 to 5,112 kilometers.
The module performed a transearth injection maneuver Oct. 13, placing it on a trajectory where it performed four close approaches to the moon before leaving its sphere of influence on Nov. 10. The spacecraft entered a high orbit…
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