Chandrayan 2: ISRO releases first set of pictures taken by it

August 4: As millions of appreciations and congratulations filled in after the succesful launch of Chandrayan 2, its time for another round of applauds for this Mission Moon. On Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) took to micro-blogging platform Twitter and shared the first pictures of Earth captured by the LI4 camera installed in Chandrayaan-2.

ISRO has released a set of five stunning images of Earth that were taken by Chandrayaan 2 between 10.58 pm and 11.07 pm IST yesterday. Launched on July 22, a week after the mission was aborted 56 minutes before lift-off, Chandrayaan 2 aims to make India only the fourth nation to successfully make a soft landing on the Moon.

#ISRO
Earth as viewed by #Chandrayaan2 LI4 Camera on August 3, 2019 17:37 UT pic.twitter.com/8N7c8CROjy

— ISRO (@isro) August 4, 2019

The lunar orbiter part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, according to ISRO, is equipped with two cameras — Orbiter High-Resolution Camera (OHRC) and Terrain Mapping Camera 2 (TMC 2). Details about the two orbiter payloads on the ISRO site suggest that their primary use is for mapping the lunar surface. The OHRC will provide high-resolution images of the landing site so that the Lander can avoid craters or boulders.

The Rs. 1,000-crore Chandrayaan 2 is India’s second foray to the Moon. The Chandrayaan 1 mission was an orbiter and the mission included other countries, like the US, the UK and the European Space Agency. It cost Rs. 450 crore and was launched with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 2008.

Chandrayaan-2 will be orbiting the earth for 23 days before ISRO conducts the trans lunar injection on August 14. The satellite would be in the lunar transfer trajectory from Day 23 to Day 30. It will be inserted into the lunar orbit on August 20, and will remain there till September 1. The lander and orbiter will separate on September. ISRO will then conduct a deboosting on September 3. The moon landing will finally take place on September 7.