Pakistan’s iCube Qamar reached a major milestone in its mission by successfully placing its orbiter into lunar orbit on May 8th at 1:14 pm PST. This is a really big achievement for the project.
The satellite was launched into space on May 3rd aboard China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft. Its main job is to take pictures of the moon’s surface while orbiting around it in an oval-shaped path that takes about 12 hours.
Dr. Khurram Khurshid from the Institute of Space Technology (IST) confirmed that the orbiter has been deployed. He talked about how IST worked together with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and Suparco to make this happen.
This satellite being part of China’s mission is a great example of Pakistan’s space exploration skills. CubeSats like iCube Qamar are becoming more and more important for doing research in different parts of space.
The team at IST, made up of professors and students, made sure the satellite has everything it needs to do its job. It has two cameras for taking pictures and other important parts for communicating and controlling the satellite. This means it’s going to make some really useful contributions to our understanding of the moon.
