The rocket which carried Chandrayaan-1 into space lifted off several weeks ago on 22 October.
Credit: ISRO
BANGALORE: India's first unmanned spacecraft entered lunar orbit Saturday, 18 days after an Indian-built rocket transported it into outer space.
"The motor on board Chandrayaan-1 was fired at 5:15 pm (11:45 GMT) for 805 seconds, which successfully put the spacecraft into lunar orbit," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Director S. Satish announced.
"This was an extremely complex manoeuvre but we have achieved our mission of inserting the craft into lunar orbit without any hitch," an ISRO spokesman at the organisation's headquarters in Bangalore added.
Stable orbit
Chandrayaan-1, which was launched on October 22, entered the Moon's space on Tuesday after orbiting the Earth for several days. Mission controllers hope the spacecraft's orbit will stabilise in about a week. It is then expected to send a probe to the moon's surface to carry out tests.
The ISRO mission control erupted in celebration as Chandrayaan-1 completed its manoeuvres and went into an orbit of the Moon, said officials.
Mission chief N.S. Hedge said the last 20 minutes before the craft dropped into its planned orbit were the most anxious moments for ISRO scientists.
"We were looking at all possible contingencies – anything that can go wrong and we were preparing in our minds what measures we have to take because this mission is something that does not forgive us for the mistakes," Hedge said.
Joy for India
ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair was visibly jubilant. "This will go down in the history of Indian space research in golden letters," he told reporters. "No one else in the world perhaps would have got such a precise lunar orbit as India did in the first attempt and now India has a big leadership position as far as space is concerned."
During a two-year orbital mission, the craft will provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon's surface.
India is hoping the 80 million-dollar mission will boost its space programme into the same league as regional powerhouses Japan and China.
