Chandrayaan-3 mission could be declared failed if...
If Chandrayaan-3 fails to be captured by the moon's gravity, the consequences could be significant. The spacecraft might either crash into the moon or be flung away from it due to the Earth's gravitational pull.
In Short
The spacecraft would likely enter an elliptical orbit
This elliptical path, known as an ellipse
It would see the spacecraft oscillating between the closest point to Earth and the farthest point
By India Today Science Desk: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has said that the Chandrayaan-3 mission will enter into the Moon's sphere of influence on August 5 after leaving Earth earlier this week.
However, the success of this mission hinges on a critical phase - the lunar orbit insertion, a meticulously planned maneuver that reduces the speed of the spacecraft, allowing the moon's gravitational field to pull it into a stable lunar orbit.
