Highlights:
– Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon and the Pragyan rover is now exploring the lunar surface.
– Pictures taken after the landing show a part of the landing site, its own metal emblem, and its shadow.
– The life of the lander and rover is equivalent to a lunar day, which is around 14 days on Earth.
– The rover will conduct experiments, collect data from the lunar surface, and send it back to the lander for transmission to ISRO.
– After the initial 14 days, when night falls on the moon, the lander and rover are expected to slow down due to decreased solar energy. However, they may still continue to function after the mission period.
Chandrayaan-3 successfully performed a soft landing on the moon and the Pragyan rover has now been deployed to explore the lunar surface. ISRO is closely monitoring this mission. Since the landing, Vikram has captured several images of the lunar surface, showing a part of the landing site, its own metallic emblem, and its shadow. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has shared these images on Twitter.
According to reports, the life span of the lander and rover is one lunar day, which is equivalent to 14 Earth days. After touchdown, the rover was released from the lander. It took some time as the rover had to wait until the lunar dust settled after the lander’s landing. The moon’s gravity is a fraction of the Earth’s gravity, which is why it takes longer for the dust to settle.
The Pragyan rover will conduct experiments, gather data from the lunar surface, and transmit it back to the lander. This information will then be sent to ISRO. According to a report by firstpost, the rover will traverse the lunar surface, conduct in-situ experiments, and study the structure of the lunar exosphere. It is equipped with an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer that will analyze the chemical and estimated mineral structure, providing valuable insights into the lunar surface.
The main objective of the lander and rover is to study the lunar surface for a period of 14 days. After this, the moon will enter into a night phase, and the weather will become extremely cold. During this time, the motion of the solar-powered lander and rover is expected to slow down. ISRO scientists believe that there is a possibility that the lander and rover can still function even after the completion of their mission. Once the moon goes through another day and the sun rises, they can become active again.