India returns Chandrayaan-3 moon mission’s propulsion module to Earth orbit

The spacecraft that ferried India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander-rover duo to the moon has returned home — sort of. In a surprise announcement on Monday (Dec. 4), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said it had moved Chandrayaan-3‘s propulsion module out of lunar orbit and placed it high above Earth for a bonus mission, where it now survives on leftover fuel. The new experiment will demonstrate technologies that will help Indian scientists bring samples from the moon to Earth someday, ISRO said. The propulsion module, a box-shaped component of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft…

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