Chandrayaan-3 successfully inserted into lunar orbit, says ISRO
Bengaluru, Aug 5: India's ambitious third Moon mission's 'Chandrayaan-3' spacecraft was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit on Saturday, ISRO said.
The required manoeuvre was done from an ISRO facility here, the city-headquartered national space agency said in a tweet.
"Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit. A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network), Bengaluru," the space agency said in a tweet.
Perilune is the spacecraft's closest point to the moon.
The next operation -- reduction of orbit -- will be done at 11 pm on Sunday, ISRO added.
The space agency also shared a message from the satellite to its centres, which read, "MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity."
According to ISRO sources, there will be four more Moon-bound manoeuvres to bring the satellite closer to the Moon, which is a 100 kilometre circular orbit.
After the manoeuvre on Sunday, there will be three more till August 17, following which the landing module, comprising the lander and rover will break away from the propulsion module. After this, de-orbiting manoeuvres will be carried on the lander before the final descent on moon. According to ISRO, it would attempt soft landing on the Moon's surface on August 23.
Over five moves in the three weeks since the launch on July 14, ISRO has been lifting the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into orbits farther and farther away from the Earth.
Then, on August 1 in a key manoeuvre -- a slingshot move -- the spacecraft was sent successfully towards the Moon from Earth's orbit.
Following this trans-lunar injection, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft escaped from orbiting the Earth and began following a path that would take it to the vicinity of the moon.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It consists of lander and rover configuration.
It comprises an indigenous propulsion module, lander module, and a rover with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.
The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit. The propulsion module has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of earth from the lunar orbit.
The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate rover roving on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
The lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the rover that will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the Moon's surface during the course of its mobility.
The lander and the rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
— ISRO (@isro) August 5, 2023
“MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity 🌖”
🙂
Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit.
A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC, Bengaluru.
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Maharashtra minister inaugurates 'Call Hindu Jobs' portal, faces criticism over communal focus
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Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, has inaugurated a digital employment portal titled Call Hindu Jobs, sparking debate over its exclusive community focus.
Developed by Vishal Durafe, a member of the Hindu Jagran Manch and former leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the portal is yet to become operational. The Hindu Jagran Manch is affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
During the inauguration, Lodha stated that the platform aims to assist youth in securing employment and learning self-employment skills, including marketing training. “Durafe has done good work. Maharashtra needs employment on a large scale. I inaugurated this as I hold the employment portfolio,” Lodha said.
When questioned about the appropriateness of a government minister endorsing a community-specific initiative, Lodha defended the move. “There is nothing wrong if someone decides to do some constructive work only for the Hindu community,” he said, according to Deccan Herald. He further added that the government would support similar initiatives by other communities as well.
In remarks reported by The Print, Lodha clarified that the portal is open to all. “Out of their own sentiment, they have named the portal for Hindus, but if anyone in Maharashtra uses it, nobody is going to say no.”
Vishal Durafe stated that the portal’s main objective is to connect Hindu job seekers with business owners from the community. He also mentioned plans to expand the portal's features to include self-employment, e-commerce, and matrimonial services. However, when asked whether participation would be restricted to Hindus, Durafe responded, “It is not necessary.”
The initiative has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition. Mahesh Tapase, spokesperson for the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction), said, “Any minister has to work as per what is defined by the Constitution, which clearly spells out equal opportunity for everyone. Once a minister endorses a communal jobs portal, it raises the question on whether he understands the role he has to play as a minister.”
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