All activities on schedule, all systems normal, says ISRO
BENGALURU, Aug 24: “India took a walk on the moon”, the ISRO said on Thursday, as Chandrayaan-3’s robotic rover rolled out of the lander and commenced mobility operations with all activities on schedule and all systems normal, a day after its historic landing on the unexplored lunar south pole.
The Vikram lander with Pragyan rover in its belly touched down on the Moon’s surface “well within the area” identified for the purpose, said ISRO Chairman S Somanath, as the 26-kg six-wheeled rover began its exploration of the lunar surface.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) also said all the Lander Module (LM) payloads have been turned on.
“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,” it said in a post on X while giving an update in the evening.
In a post earlier in the day, the space agency said the “rover ramped down”, marking the success of yet another stage of Chandrayaan-3, as it lines up a series of missions like the Mangalyaan-2 Mars Orbiter Mission, Gaganyaan Human Spaceflight programme and also the Sun mission Aditya-L1.
“Chandrayaan-3 ROVER: Made in India–Made for the Moon! The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the lander and India took a walk on the moon!” India on Wednesday scripted history as its third unmanned Moon mission’s Lander Module made a flawless soft-landing, making it only the fourth country to achieve this feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.
As the country basked under the glory of its spectacular space success, senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Minister R Ashoka said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bengaluru on August 26 to congratulate ISRO scientists and officials.
Somanath said the rover movement is working “very well”.
“The lander landed perfectly on the intended site. The landing location was marked as 4.5 km x 2.5 km — I think on that space, and the exact centre of that was identified as the location of landing. It landed within 300 metres of that point. That means it is well within the area identified for landing,” Somanath told PTI in response to a question on the exact landing site.
He said there are two instruments in the rover and three instruments on board the lander, and all of them have been switched on sequentially.
“They will study basically the mineral composition of the moon, as well as the atmosphere of the Moon and the seismic activities there.” Prime Minister Modi said science has made it possible for India to reach a difficult terrain on the Moon and thanked world leaders for their congratulatory messages on Chandrayaan-3’s success.
“Since yesterday I have been receiving congratulatory messages from everyone. Worldover, this achievement is not seen as a success limited to one country, but of the entire humanity. It is a matter of pride for all of us. This is an opportunity to congratulate Indian scientists on behalf of the entire world,” he said.
The 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 carry out experiments on the lunar surface.
However, ISRO officials have not ruled out the possibility of them coming to life for another lunar day. (PTI)