The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today shared an image of the Chandrayaan-3 rover Pragyan rolling out on the moon’s surface.
Sharing the video in a tweet, ISRO wrote, “… 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
Chandrayaan-3 successfully performed a soft landing on the moon on Wednesday evening, making India the fourth country to have successfully landed on the lunar surface.
ISRO says there were “many issues” on the moon’s surface that the spacecraft will experience for the first time, especially lunar dust and temperatures that could impact moving parts.
This was India’s third attempt at landing a spacecraft on the lunar surface. The last one, Chandrayaan-2, was listed as a partial failure after its lander crashed on the Moon in September 2019.
Chandrayaan-3’s accomplishment is special as no other spacecraft has been able to achieve a soft landing near the moon’s South Pole. The south pole – far from the equatorial region targeted by previous missions, including the crewed Apollo landings – is full of craters and deep trenches.
The findings from the Chandrayaan-3 mission could advance and expand knowledge of lunar water ice, potentially one of the moon’s most valuable resources.