Chandrayaan 2 to touch down on moon surface tonight

India's spacecraft Chandrayaan 2 was launched into space by India's heavy-lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III

New Delhi: Chandrayaan 2, India's ambitious lunar mission is scheduled to make a soft landing on the surface of the moon between 1:30 am to 2:30 am on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. This will be followed by the Rover roll out between 5:30 am to 6:30 am, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed. According to news agency, ANI, the second de-orbiting maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performed successfully in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Also Read: Chandrayaan 2 completes second de-orbiting maneuver successfully

"The maneuver was performed successfully today (September 04, 2019) beginning at 0342 hours Indian Standard Time (IST) as planned, using the onboard propulsion system," the space agency (ISRO) informed in a statement. The duration of the maneuver was 9 seconds and the orbit of Vikram Lander is 35 km x 101 km. Narendra Modi will be at the ISRO around midnight to watch the event with over 60 high school students across India who cleared an online space quiz last month will watch the soft landing of the mission with the Prime Minister.

The Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft will be the first Indian expedition to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface making India the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to conduct a soft landing on the moon. Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft began its journey on August 14 to the moon after revolving around the Earth's orbit for nearly 23 days. The mission took off from the on July 22 Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. India's second mission to the moon was approved by the cabinet on September 2008, just before the launch of Chandrayaan 1.

With inputs from ANI

Also Read: ISRO: Chandrayaan-2 performs first de-orbiting maneuver