Chandrayaan-3: First photo of Rover Pragyan rolling out of the lander. Check here

Pawan K Goenka, Chairman of INSPACe, Dept of Space, Chairman SCALE, DPIIT, on Wednesday shared that the first glimpses of Rover Pragyan of Chandrayaan-3 while it was coming out of the lander on the ramp.

Meanwhile, on Thursday morning, Rover Pragyan began its exploration of the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The spacecraft landed on the unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday evening, making India the first country to achieve this feat.

The space agency said in its message, "India took a walk on the moon".

It added, the "rover ramped down."

"Chandrayaan-3 ROVER: Made in India--Made for the Moon! The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the lander and India took a walk on the moon!," it said. Official sources had earlier confirmed the development.

President Droupadi Murmu congratulated the ISRO

President Droupadi Murmu congratulated the ISRO team for the successful deployment of Pragyan.

"Its rolling out a few hours after the landing of Vikram marked the success of yet another stage of Chandrayaan 3. I look forward with excitement, alongside my fellow citizens and scientists, to the information and analyses that Pragyan will acquire and enrich our understanding of the moon", President Droupadi Murmu said.

In precision landing, Chandrayaan 3's LM Vikram touched down the lunar surface at 6.04 pm on Wednesday, sending the nation into wild celebrations. The ISRO had earlier said the 26 kg six-wheeled rover was scheduled to descend from the lander's belly, onto the Moon's surface, using one of its side panels as a ramp.

The lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan) -- with a total mass of 1,752 kg -- are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days) to study the surroundings there.

(With agency inputs)