The Pragyan Rover has rolled over the surface of the moon for a distance of eight meters, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in an update on the Chandrayaan-3 mission on Friday.
“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 said in a tweet.
The payloads onboard Chandrayaan-3, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) meant for deriving the elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site have been updated, ISRO said adding that all the payloads, the lander and the rover are performing “nominally”.
Earlier in the day, ISRO released a video of the Pragyan rover rolling out of Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander from a two-segment ramp as well as the deployment of the ramp and solar panel prior to the rolldown of the rover.
“A two-segment ramp facilitated the roll-down of the 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,” ISRO tweeted.
Previously, ISRO released visuals of the August 23 soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram on the moon’s surface, clicked by Chandrayaan-2’s Orbiter High-Resolution Camera.
Upon landing, the lander and the rover will operate and do their set tasks for one lunar day. One day on the Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth.
India took a giant leap on Wednesday evening as the Chandrayaan-3 lander module successfully landed on the moon’s South Pole, making it the first country to have achieved the historic feat and bringing to an end the disappointment over the crash landing of the Chandrayaan-2, four years ago.
India became the fourth country – after the US, China, and Russia – to have successfully landed on the moon’s surface. The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14.
