The Pragyan Rover, part of India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, has accomplished an important milestone by covering a distance of eight meters…
The Pragyan Rover, part of India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, has accomplished an important milestone by covering a distance of eight meters on the moon’s surface, according to an update from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) released on Friday.
ISRO reported, “All planned Rover movements have been verified. The Rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 8 meters. Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned ON. All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally,” via a tweet.
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Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
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All planned Rover movements have been verified. The Rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 8 meters.
Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned ON.
All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally.…
— ISRO (@isro) August 25, 2023
The payloads onboard Chandrayaan-3, namely the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), designed for analyzing the elemental composition near the landing site, have been functioning as expected, ISRO noted. The lander, rover, and all the payloads continue to operate within normal parameters.
Earlier on the same day, ISRO unveiled a video showcasing the Pragyan rover’s deployment from the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander using a two-segment ramp. The video also depicted the deployment of the ramp and solar panel before the rover’s rollout.
ISRO explained, “A two-segment ramp facilitated the roll-down of the Pragyan rover. A solar panel enabled the rover to generate power. Here is how the rapid deployment of the ramp and solar panel took place, prior to the rolldown of the rover. The deployment mechanisms, totalling 26 in the Ch-3 mission, were developed at UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC)/ISRO, Bengaluru,” in a tweet.
… … and here is how the Chandrayaan-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander to the Lunar surface. pic.twitter.com/nEU8s1At0W
— ISRO (@isro) August 25, 2023
Previously, ISRO had shared visuals of the successful soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram on the moon’s surface on August 23. Chandrayaan’s Orbiter High-Resolution Camera captured these images on the moon surface.
After the landing, both the lander and the rover will perform their designated tasks for one lunar day. A lunar day is equivalent to 14 Earth days.
(With inputs from ANI)
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