Indian satellite orbiting moon
November 10, 2008 00:00:00
India is celebrating the arrival of its Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft at the Moon. An 817-second burn from the probe's engine Saturday slowed Chandrayaan sufficiently for it to be captured by the lunar body's gravity, reports BBC.
The craft is now in an 11-hour polar ellipse that goes out to 7,502km from the Moon and comes as close as 504km.
Further brakings will bring the Indian satellite down to a near-circular, 100km orbit from where it can begin its two-year mapping mission.
