ISRO releases video of Moon taken by Chandrayaan-3 lander just before historic touchdown, Watch

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 24, 2023: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday shared a video taken by the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft’s lander just before making a historic landing on the Moon’s surface. The lander ’Vikram’ touched down near the south pole of the Moon at 6.03 pm on Wednesday, successfully completing one of the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s stated objectives of soft landing on the lunar surface.

 

Earlier in the day, the Indian space agency announced that the rover (Pragyan) has rolled down from the lander and that ’India took a walk on the Moon’. The rover will send the data to the lander which will then send it to Earth.

 

Here is how the Lander Imager Camera captured the moon’s image just prior to touchdown. pic.twitter.com/PseUAxAB6G

— ISRO (@isro) August 24, 2023

The Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover -- with a total mass of 1,752 kg -- are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days) to study the surroundings there.

The rover will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility. The rover would study the surface of the moon through its payloads APXS - Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer - to derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of the lunar surface.

Pragyan also has another payload -- Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) to determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site.

Both the lander and the rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.

Earlier on Wednesday, India scripted history as ISRO’s ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.

According to ISRO officials, the Moon’s south pole region is being explored because there is a possibility of water being present in permanently shadowed areas around it.

Courtesy: Zee News