Bengaluru (PTI): India's ambitious third Moon mission's spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 on Wednesday successfully underwent a fifth and final Moon-bound orbit maneouvre, bringing it even closer to the lunar surface.
With this, the spacecraft has completed its lunar-bound maneouvres and it will now prepare for the propulsion module and the lander module separation, ISRO said.
"Today's successful firing, needed for a short duration, has put Chandrayaan-3 into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km, as intended. With this, the lunar bound maneuvres are completed.It's time for preparations as the Propulsion Module and the Lander Module gear up for their separate journeys," the national space agency tweeted.
Separation of the lander module from the propulsion module of the spacecraft is planned for August 17, it said.
Post its launch on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 entered into the lunar orbit on August 5, following which three successive orbit reduction maneouvres were carried out on August 6, 9 and 14 to move closer to the Moon.
As the mission progresses, a series of maneouvres is being conducted by ISRO to gradually reduce Chandrayaan-3's orbit and position it over the lunar poles.
The spacecraft is scheduled to make a soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon on August 23.
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Chandigarh (PTI): Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann strongly condemned the attack on Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was fired at while performing 'sewa' outside the Golden Temple on Wednesday morning, and directed police to investigate the incident.
The chief minister also lauded the promptness of the Punjab Police in nabbing the attacker.
The man missed Badal as he was overpowered by police. The audacious attack was captured on cameras of media persons who had gathered outside the Sikh shrine to cover the second day of Badal's penance for "mistakes" committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.
"Punjab Police prevented a major incident from happening today. It is the result of the promptness of the Punjab Police that the conspiracy to defame Punjab and Punjabis has failed," Mann said in a post on X.
"The police achieved great success by arresting the assailant on the spot with their promptness... I strongly condemn the attack on Sukhbir Badal ji. I have issued strict instructions to the police to immediately investigate the incident and submit a report," he added.
Police identified the shooter as Narain Singh Chaura, a resident of Dera Baba Nanak. After the attack, he was whisked away by security officials.
Television footage showed the shooter slowly walking towards Badal, who was sitting in a wheelchair due to a fractured leg, and pulling out a gun from his pocket. A police official in plainclothes standing near Badal quickly intervened and grabbed the attacker's hands. In the melee, a bullet hit the wall behind Badal, who escaped unhurt.