The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Saturday shared a new video of Chandrayaan 3’s rover Pragyan roaming around Shiv Shakti point in the south pole area of the Moon. The video tweeted by ISRO shows rover Pragyan taking baby steps as it goes away from lander Vikram.
The rover is currently roaming around lander Vikram in pursuit of lunar secrets and will continue its mission of finding water ice for around two weeks. According to ISRO, the rover has so far walked a distance of eight meters. It is capable of walking half a kilometer during its 14-day mission.
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“What’s new here? Pragyan rover roams around Shiv Shakti Point in pursuit of lunar secrets at the South Pole,” the ISRO said in its tweet along with the video.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared August 23, the day Chandrayaan 3 landed on Moon, as the National Space Day and named the touchdown spot of Vikram as Shiv Shakti Point. Addressing the scientists at ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking & Command Network Mission Control Complex in Bengaluru, PM Modi hailed the contribution of women scientists who were part of the Moon mission and said that the spot where Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Vikram landed will be known as ‘Shivshakti’.
On August 23, India created history after its moon mission Chandrayaan 3 successfully landed on the Lunar surface. Chandrayaan 3’s lander Vikram, which also carried rover Pragyaan with it, made a soft landing near the south pole region of the Moon.
On Friday, ISRO had shared the first footage of Pragyaan’s Moon walk.
The mesmerising video, captured by Vikram’s Lander Imager Camera on August 23 after Chandrayaan 3’s soft landing on the Moon, shows Rover Pragyan slowly coming out from the Lander through a ramp and taking a stroll on the Lunar surface.
As the Pragyan rover rolls out of the Lander and onto the Lunar surface, its tire tracks are visible. Its long shadow is also visible on the Moon.