The Pragyan rover has ramped down onto the Moon from the Vikram lander, following the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar south polar region on August 23.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) shared a video on Friday, August 25, of the rover's rollout from the lander, marking a historic moment in India's space mission. However, according to their post, the rover ramped onto the Moon on Wednesday, August 23 i.e. the day it landed.
Visuals captured by the lander's imager camera show the rover rolling down the ramp onto the Moon's surface.
ISRO tweeted, "...and here is how the Chandrayaan-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander to the Lunar surface."
... ... 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
A few hours after the landing, the 26-kg six-wheeled rover rolled out from the lander's belly.
ISRO on Thursday evening said, "All activities are on schedule. All systems are normal. Lander Module payloads ILSA, RAMBHA and ChaSTE are turned ON today. Rover mobility operations have commenced. SHAPE payload on the Propulsion Module was turned ON on Sunday."
Just hours before, ISRO deleted its second-most recent post with pictures of the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander taken by the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter.
"I spy you! Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter photoshoots Chandrayaan-3 Lander! Chandrayaan-2's Orbiter High-Resolution Camera (OHRC) — the camera with the best resolution anyone currently has around the moon — spots the Chandrayaan-3 Lander after the landing..." ISRO said.
ISRO deletes its recently issued tweet on Chandrayaan-3 pic.twitter.com/Lv1uphYpTp
— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2023
What happens next?
The Vikram lander and Pragyan rover are designed to operate and perform experiments for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days) to study the surroundings on the Moon.
The rover will carry out in-situ chemical analyses on the Moon and study its surface through its payloads to determine the composition of lunar soil and rocks. It will transmit the data to the lander, which will in turn relay the information to Earth.
After the lunar daylight period, pitch darkness and extreme cold weather will engulf the Moon. ISRO officials, however, hope the lander and rover will come back to life for another lunar day.
First Published: Aug 25, 2023 12:32 PM IST
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