Chandrayaan-3 Nears Lunar Landing

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that Chandrayaan-3 has moved closer to the Moon, entering a near-circular orbit of 153×163 km. The Lander Module is set to separate from the spacecraft on Thursday and will continue its journey to the Moon's surface independently. The Lander will undergo two orbit-reduction maneuvers before descending for touchdown on August 23. The ISRO has made improvements to the Lander based on lessons learned from the Chandrayaan-2 mission, taking a "failure-based approach" in its design. The Propulsion Module, which functioned as the Orbiter in Chandrayaan-2, will continue to collect data after the Lander separates.