India became the first country to touch down on the lunar South Pole on Wednesday as billions watched from around the globe. The Chandrayaan-3 lander - designed to deploy a smaller, 26-kg lunar rover - landed on the surface of the moon at 6:04 pm, marking a giant leap in India’s spacefaring journey.
The spacecraft took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh on July 14. Chandrayaan-3 was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit on August 5 and went through multiple key maneuvers in the ensuing weeks. The 'Vikram' lander module of the spacecraft successfully separated from the propulsion module on August 17.
The Vikram lander stands about 2 meters tall and has a mass of just over 1,700 kg. It is named after Vikram Sarabhai – widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programme.
The six-wheeled lander and rover module of Chandrayaan-3 is configured with payloads that would provide data to the scientific community on the properties of lunar soil and rocks, including chemical and elemental compositions. Pragyaan will now slide down a flap from the lander within hours or a day and conduct experiments, including an analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.
There was no immediate word when the six-wheeled rover will be deployed. In the case of Chandrayaan-2 mission, the schedule for the roll out of the rover was four hours after lunar touchdown.
The six wheeled rover will study the surface of the moon for several elements including magnesium, silicon, potassium, calcium and iron. It will also assist in understanding the Moon's atmosphere, and day and night cycles. The rover will study the surface of the moon through its payloads APXS - Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer - to derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of the lunar surface.
(With inputs from agencies)
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