Chandrayaan-1 : 11-Nov-2008

Now that the orbits have reduced drastically, so also has the revolution time. I presume this allows quicker changes to reduce the orbit further.

10:43 am EST 11-Nov-2008: Just now my RSS feeds threw up an update fromPTI news mentioning yet another orbit reduction manoeuvre at 18:30 IST for 31 seconds. Quoting from the article :

"The current orbit of Chandrayaan-1 is 255.3 km (the farthest distance from the moon) X 101.3 km (nearest distance to the moon). The orbital period is 2.09 hours", ISRO spokesperson S Satish told PTI.

This makes it the 3rd delta since 8-Nov when Chandrayaan-1 entered the Lunar Orbit. Quick traceback:

08-Nov: Orbital insertion - @ 16:51 - 504 x 7502 km - 11 hours to go round the moon once
09-Nov: 1st orbit reduction - @8:03pm - 200 x 7502 km - 10.30 hours to circle the moon once
10-Nov: 2nd orbit reduction - @9.58pm - 187 x 255 km - 2.16 to go round the Moon once
11-Nov: 3rd orbit reduction - @6:30pm - 101.3 x 255.3 km - orbital period is 2.09 hours

Will I have any finger nails remaining!