Pragyaan and Vikram are finally on their way to the Moon. Praygyaan is Chandrayaan-2 six-wheeled rover that is currently housed in the Vikram lander.
“The health of the orbiter and lander is being monitored from the Mission Operations Complex… All the systems of Chandrayaan 2 orbiter and lander are healthy,” – ISRO
The separation took place at 1:15 pm Monday afternoon and is now in an orbit of 119 km x 127 km around the Moon while on this orbit, the closest Vikram will come to the lunar surface will be 119 kilometers while the farthest it will be is 127 kilometers.
The Chandrayaan 2 was successfully maneuvered into lunar orbit on August 20, after nearly 30 days of space travel. Most of the lunar landings so far has taken place in the northern hemisphere or in the equatorial region while Vikram lander is en route to a region on the moon that is skeptical for researchers. It is scheduled to touch the Moon on September 7.
On July 22 Chandrayaan 2 had kicked off from the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. However, the lift-off was successful a week after it was aborted just under an hour from its launch due to a technical glitch.
This is one of the trickiest operations as it the most low-cost mission with just about Rs. 1,000 crore spent.
