Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somnath, in an exclusive interview with India Today TV, said that success of Chandrayaan-3 is not just for India, it is an inspiration for the rest of the world.
“PM Narendra Modi said that the mission is an inspiration for the entire world. It is not just for India. Our mission will inspire others to travel to the moon and explore it further. There is a renewed interest in exploring the southern part of the moon. We hope to explore natural resources of the lunar surface,” he said.
The ISRO Chairman said the Pragyan rover, which exited the Vikram Lander early today, is likely to carry out interesting exploration for the next two weeks. The rover supposed to conduct experiments to study geology, mineralogy, and atmosphere of the Moon.
ISRO Thursday morning posted a tweet on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Pragyan rover of Chandrayaan-3 exited the spacecraft to begin the exploration of the lunar surface.
"The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon," ISRO shared, adding that more mission updates would be shared soon.
The Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3 landed on south pole of the moon at 6.04 pm on Wednesday evening, making India the first country to achieve that feat.
“The rover is on the moon now. Now we have to move it further. It is expected to path planning and various experiments on the lunar surface. We need a lot of suitable factors for the experiments like ground visibility, ground station availability. Depending on this, we will decide our future course,” reported India Today TV quoting Somanathas saying.
The ISRO Chairman said the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover are designed to operate for 14 days, which is approximately one lunar daylight period, during this period it will be powered by solar panels and will communicate with the Chandrayaan-3 orbiter.
The Pragyan rover would study the moon surface through its payload APXS - Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer - to derive the chemical and mineralogical composition of lunar surface to further enhance understanding.
Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.