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India sends Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module back t

India sends Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module back to Earth orbit after historic moon landing mission

The propulsion module that powered India’s spacecraft to a historic moon landing just transitioned back into Earth’s orbit, according to the country’s space agency. The move aims to test how the growing space power might one day return samples of lunar soil.
The propulsion module had more fuel left over than the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO, had expected. So, researchers decided to move forward with an attempt to bring the module back toward home, the agency said Monday.
And the module is now back in Earth’s orbit.
The propulsion module — a unit shaped like a large box with a solar panel and an engine strapped to its bottom — propelled the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lunar lander during most of its trek to the moon after the spacecraft launched in mid-July.
After reaching lunar orbit three weeks later, the lander separated from the propulsion module and achieved touchdown on August 23 — making India only the fourth country to land a vehicle on the moon’s surface. Only the United States, China and the former Soviet Union had previously accomplished such a feat.

©SHIRSENDU KARMAKAR
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