THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India’s Chandrayaan-3 is nearing the surface of the moon, as per the latest reports. The spacecraft is currently 3.69 lakh km away from Earth.

The coming days are gauged as crucial for Chandrayaan. The probe, which left Earth's orbit on August 1, is currently in the outermost translunar orbit of the Moon. At 7 pm on Saturday, the trajectory will be lowered such that the spacecraft will close its distance from the moon. With this, the spacecraft will enter the Moon's gravitational field. Later on, it will start orbiting the moon.

On Saturday, scientists at ISRO's Telemetry Tracking Center in Bangalore will ignite the probe's fuel and lower it into lunar orbit. The move requires deft attention and should be carried out in precision to fulfill the dream of a soft landing on the moon.

The lander will be separated from the spacecraft on August 17. The lander will then propel itself forward. A landing site will be found and preparations will be made for a soft landing in the next week. The lander is expected to touch the lunar soil at 5.47 pm on the 23rd of August.