Article Posted on : - Nov 04, 2008

Chandrayaan's fifth orbit raising manoeuvre. Credit: ISRO

BANGALORE (PTI): India's first unmanned moon spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1 has entered the lunar transfer trajectory and is heading to an apogee of 3,80,000 KM as ISRO scientists today carried the fifth and final orbit-raising manoeuvre.

"Chandrayaan-1 has entered the lunar transfer trajectory and is heading to an apogee of 3,80,000 KM, expected to happen on Saturday evening, the time at which the lunar orbit insertion manoeuvres are planned to be carried out," ISRO spokesperson S Satish told PTI.

During the crucial manoeuvre today at 4.56 am, the spacecraft's 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for 145 seconds.

"Today's manoeuvre is one of the most crucial and important milestones in the Chandrayaan-1 mission," Satish said.