India landed at the south pole of the moon

The lunar module descended from the Vikram lander and “India walked on the moon!” – said the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), according to a BBC News report.

The Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander touched down as planned on Wednesday at the south pole of Earth’s companion planet.

Previously, only three countries succeeded in landing on the moon: the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China.

The 26-kg Prajajan rover (whose name means wisdom in Sanskrit) reached the Moon in the belly of the Vikram lander.

After the dust from the landing settled, Vikram opened his ramp to allow Pragya to roll to the moon’s surface.

In the coming days, the vehicle will move between rocks and craters to collect data and take images, which will be sent back to Earth, where they will be analyzed.

Braggan uses two instruments to identify minerals on the moon’s surface and to study the chemical composition of the soil.

The vehicle communicates with the lander, which transmits data to the Chandrayaan-2 mission still in lunar orbit, and from there the material reaches Earth.

According to ISRO, the spacecraft is moving at a rate of one centimeter per second, and the space agency’s logo embedded in the spacecraft’s wheels can be seen in the trace left in the moon dust.

The day of the moon landing coincided with the beginning of the lunar day. A day on the Moon lasts 28 Earth days, and the lander and rover have 14 days to recharge their batteries from sunlight. Once lunar evening arrives, the units are turned off and finished. It is not yet clear whether they will be revived on the next lunar day.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission launched on July 14 from Sriharikota in southern India.

Wednesday’s successful landing is particularly important in light of the failure of India’s second $140 million mission to the moon in 2019 after the lander and rover were destroyed during landing, believed to be due to a software error. On Chandraya–On January 1, India’s first lunar mission in 2008 was launched.

The possible reason for the destruction of the Russian probe that landed on the moon’s surface has been revealed

The Moon may contain important minerals, but the main purpose of Chandrajān-3 is to search for water. Deep within giant craters in the Antarctic region, where sunlight never reaches, there may be ice, scientists say, which would be key to sustaining a human-inhabited lunar base in the future. They could also be used to provide propellant for spacecraft headed to Mars and other distant destinations.

(MTI)