Chandrayaan-2 Beams Back Breathtaking Pictures Of Earth

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released the first set of pictures captured by Chandrayaan-2.

The breathtaking pictures of the blue planet covered in a thick layer of cloud were clicked by LI4 camera of Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander on Saturday.

One of the images shows the Black Sea across its length and breadth. The other two pictures are presumably of the western seaboard of the United States.

Notably, some of the components of the spacecraft have been manufactured by the Central Tool Room and Training Centre in Bhubaneswar.

At present, the spacecraft is orbiting the earth and the space agency has planned around 15 orbit raising manoeuvres to place it on a trajectory to the moon, which is about 3.5 lakh km from Earth.

“Third earth-bound orbit-raising manoeuvre for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has been performed successfully today at 15:12 hrs (IST) as planned, using the on the board propulsion system for a firing duration of 989 seconds. The orbit achieved is 276 x 71792 km. All spacecraft parameters are normal,” ISRO said in an update.

Chandrayaan-2 is expected to make a soft landing on the moon’s south pole in September.