India's Chandrayaan-3 mission faced an unexpected challenge during its lunar exploration as the rover encountered a sizeable — approximately 4-metre wide — crater on Sunday (August 27), which was positioned just 3 metres ahead of it.
In response to this unexpected obstacle, mission controllers swiftly commanded the rover to retrace its path and adapt to a new trajectory, ensuring the continuation of its expedition.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
On August 27, 2023, the Rover came across a 4-meter diameter crater positioned 3 meters ahead of its location.The Rover was commanded to retrace the path.It's now safely heading on a new path.#Chandrayaan_3#Ch3 pic.twitter.com/QfOmqDYvSF— ISRO (@isro) August 28, 2023
The Chandrayaan-3 mission, undertaken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), had made history on August 23 by successfully landing its lander module (LM) on the lunar surface. This achievement solidified India's position as the fourth nation to accomplish a soft landing on the Moon and marked a significant milestone, as Chandrayaan-3 became the first mission to reach the uncharted southern pole of Earth's natural satellite.
Earlier, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, expressed unwavering confidence in the mission's progress, assuring that all experiments are on track to be concluded by September 3.
"Chandrayaan-3, the lander, the rover is very healthy and all the five instruments on board have been switched on. And it's giving beautiful data now," stated Somanath. He went on to explain that the mission aims to unveil the most comprehensive image of the Moon to date, showcasing its diverse characteristics and terrain.
In an endeavour to understand the Moon's thermal behaviour, ISRO released intriguing data collected by the Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) payload onboard Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander module. The payload captured the temperature fluctuations within the lunar topsoil surrounding the Moon's southern pole, shedding light on the thermal dynamics of its surface.
"Here are the first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander. ChaSTE measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon's surface," ISRO announced in an update.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:Here are the first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander.
ChaSTE (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment) measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon's… pic.twitter.com/VZ1cjWHTnd— ISRO (@isro) August 27, 2023
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
First Published: Aug 28, 2023 6:49 PM IST
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