Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover traverses 8 metres on moon, payloads turned on

Chandrayaan-3, India’s ambitious lunar endeavour, has brought another glory to the nation as the Pragyan Rover after ramping down from Vikram Lander, successfully traversed 8 metres on the surface of the moon on Friday (25 August). The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday announced the triumphant movement of the rover on the lunar surface. The rover’s payloads, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), were also turned on to carry out the experiments.

The ISRO on Friday took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the information about the rover. The X handle post reads, “The Pragyan rover is confirmed to have moved a distance of 8 meters away from the Vikram lander! India again becomes the first to operate an uncrewed rover on the south polar region of the Moon and the third to do so anywhere on the Moon!"

Chandrayaan-3 makes history

The ISRO’s official handle posted, “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: All planned Rover movements have been verified. The Rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 8 meters. Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned on. All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally.”

The APXS, on the rover, operates by bombardment of alpha particles and X-rays onto the lunar ground, which results in scattering of particles. During this process, the emissions are detected, which eventually provides critical insights into the chemical composition of the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:

All planned Rover movements have been verified. The Rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 8 meters.

Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned ON.

All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally.…

— ISRO (@isro) August 25, 2023

The Chandrayaan-3 mission, in the next few days will carry out various researches and exploration of hidden celestial facts.

India on Wednesday (August 23) scripted history by becoming the first ever country to make a successful soft landing on the southern polar region of the moon flawlessly. With this, India also became the fourth country to make a victorious landing on any part of the moon.