India's Chandrayaan-3 Reaches Lunar Orbit

The Indian Space Research Organization’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar spacecraft arrived in lunar orbit early today, and is now 18 days away from its scheduled landing near the Moon’s south pole. The spacecraft entered the Moon’s gravity in an elliptical orbit hundreds of kilometers from the surface. Its next objective is to go into a nearly circular orbit just 100 km above the surface on Aug. 17, according to a report today in Space News. From there it will gradually descend to the surface of the Moon.