In August , India became thefourthnation to touch down on the Moon , and the first to landnear(butdefinitely noton ) the lunar south terminal . The missionary work was an consuming success , with the lander and rover conducting experiments to measure the temperature at the landing place site and psychoanalyze the composition of the lunar soil , before shutting down in the lunar Nox .
Now , in a surprise move ( even to the Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ) , given that they were n’t expect to have the fuel for such a tactics ) , the propulsion module that consume the lander to the Moon has return to Earth orbit .
The propulsion module ’s primary object glass was to deliver the Vikram Lander to the Moon – but it also had another cargo . After separation , the Spectro - polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth ( SHAPE ) load was deployed and work for a planned lifetime of about three months . As the end of the mission approach , they realized they had fuel fifth wheel for a bonus end to the mission .
" The accurate orbit injection by LVM3 and optimum earth / lunar burn tactical manoeuvre , leave in the availability of over 100 kg [ 220 Ezra Pound ] of fuel in the PM [ Propulsion Module ] after over one month of operation in the lunar orbit , " ISRO say in astatement . " It was decided to practice the available fuel in the PM to derive extra information for next lunar delegation and shew the mission operation strategies for a sampling return mission . "
After a few maneuvers , the faculty made four last Moon fly - bys before leaving its celestial orbit and heading out on a trajectory taking it into Earth ’s reach . Here , it is revolve us around every 13 day , with no terror to any other orbiting satellites , ISRO says .
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SHAPE will now be repurposed for Earth observations whenever it is unaired enough to abide by us . In a tantalizing tinge of skill to come , ISRO added that SHAPE carried out a " peculiar mental process " on October 28 , 2023 , during a Solar Eclipse .
Solar eclipses areespecially usefulfor blank scientist , particularly for studying the Sun itself – but for now , we ’ll have to wait and see what they were up to .
