In a surprise experiment, Chandrayaan 3’s lander module Vikram successfully made a hop on the moon surface, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Monday.

Sharing the video of the latest manoeuvre on X, formerly Twitter, ISRO said that the lander module of Chandrayaan 3 was elevated by 40 CM and soft landed at 30 to 40 CM away.

“On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away,” the ISRO said.

During the manoeuvre, the agency said, all systems performed nominally and are in good health. The experiment was similar to the first soft landing. After the jump, the ramp used for Pragyan rover to come out was opened again and the ChaSTE and ILSA payloads were also deployed.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
Vikram soft-landed on , again!

Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment.

On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away.… pic.twitter.com/T63t3MVUvI

— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023

How important is the Mop experiment for future human missions?

The space agency has not announced the “hop experiment” before but it’s success is highly important as a technological demonstration to the future sample and human missions.

“This ‘kick-start’ enthuses future sample return and human missions!,” ISRO said.

In sample missions, a spacecraft returns to the Earth after collecting samples from the Moon. In such missions, this particular manoeuvre is needed though the thrust required would be much higher.

Also, in human missions, the spacecraft would require lift off from the lunar surface to bring the crew back on Earth.

Pragyan put to sleep

Earlier on Sunday, ISRO said that Chandrayaan 3’s rover Pragyan was set into sleep mod after it completed all its assignments on the lunar surface. The two payloads APXS and LIBS were also turned off and the rover was parked safely on the lunar surface.

Pragyan traversed over 100 meters on the lunar surface near the south pole region during the mission. However, ISRO said that the solar-powered battery of Pragyan is fully charged and its solar panel is oriented to receive light at the next sunrise, which is expected on September 22. ISRO will try to awaken rover Pragyan at next sunrise for next set of assignments