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The landing module of the unmanned lunar mission in India has successfully separated from the orbiter on Monday in anticipation of its planned landing in the southern polar region of the Moon this weekend, announced the country's space agency.
All the systems of the orbiter and the lander are "healthy," said the Indian space research organization in a statement.
Monday's maneuver removed the lender from the top of the orbiter, where he had been sitting since takeoff from South India's mission on July 22.
The module has reached a distance of about 100 km from the surface of the moon, the space agency announced.
He will attempt on Saturday the first Indian lunar landing on a relatively flat surface to study the previously discovered water deposits.
The mission, valued at about $ 140 million, is known as Chandrayaan-2, the Sanskrit word for "moon craft".
Chandrayaan-1 circled the moon in 2008 and helped confirm the presence of water.
The president of the space agency, K Sivan, said the landing on the lunar surface involves many technical complexities – an event he described as "15 terrifying minutes".
If India succeeds the landing, it will be only the fourth country to do it after the United States, Russia and China.
India plans to send human beings into space by 2022.
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