The Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully landed near the Moon's south pole on August 23 at 6.04 PM IST. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developed the entire mission, serving as a follow up to Chandrayaan-2 that was unable to meet its objectives.
The space agency successfully soft-landed of the Chandrayaan-3 near Moon's south pole, a region considered particularly interesting due to potential water ice deposits.
A successful landing marked a huge win for India and its space ambitions, but the real work will begin now.
The Pragyan rover will analyse the Moon's surface for one lunar day (14 Earth days) with a plethora of data coming from five scientific instruments aboard the Vikram lander and the rover.
Once the lander module sits on the Moon surface, one side panel of the Vikram lander will unfold, along with a ramp for the six-wheeled vehicle Pragyan.
Also read:?Explained: As Chandrayaan-3 Prepares To Land, Why Are Space Agencies Targeting Moon's South Pole?
After four hours, Pragyan will descend from the lander's belly and will move at a speed of 1 cm per second - scanning surrounding areas using navigation cameras. As the rover rolls, it will imprint India's national flag and ISRO's logo on the lunar regolith (soil).
The rover and lander will have two weeks to make their assessments on the Moon. The rover is equipped with payloads to log in data about the Moon's surface - including its composition and more.
Also read:?ISRO Chandrayaan-3 Soft Landing: Date, Time And Where To Watch; Check Details
This data will be sent to the lander that will also measure Moon's near-surface plasma density and study the Moon's thermal properties. The lander directly communicates with the ISRO team on Earth and that's how the space agency will maintain contact.
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