The Chandrayaan-3 mission’s Lander Module made a successful touch down on the lunar surface and rolled out the Pragyan rover. ISRO stated, “India took a walk on the moon” as the rover ramped down from the lander. President Droupadi Murmu congratulated the ISRO team and expressed excitement about the wealth of information Pragyan will gather. The precision landing of Chandrayaan 3’s LM Vikram at 6.04 pm on Wednesday ignited celebrations across the nation.
The ISRO previously announced that the 26 kg six-wheeled rover would descend from the lander using one of its side panels as a ramp. The total mass of the lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan) is 1,752 kg, designed to operate for about 14 Earth days on the lunar surface. There’s potential for them to operate during another lunar day. Pragyan will perform in-situ chemical analysis and use payloads like APXS (Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer) and LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope) to analyze the lunar surface’s chemical and elemental composition.
ISRO Chairman S Somnath highlighted the time-sensitive nature of the experiments, which must be completed within the 14-day lunar day.
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