Chandrayaan-3: ISRO prevents Pragyan from falling into a crater, makes it tread different path

Chandrayaan-3's rover Pragyan has headed to a new path after locating 4-metre diameter crater ahead of it, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Monday. The rover came across a 4-metre diameter crater on Sunday positioned 3 metres ahead of its location. "The Rover was commanded to retrace the path. It's now safely heading on a new path," the space agency said.

The space agency, which successfully landed Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the Moon on August 23, on Sunday shared the first observations from a payload on lander Vikram. The payload - ChaSTE (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment) - measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon's surface.

The payload has a temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10 cm beneath the surface, the space agency said, adding that the probe is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors.

The ISRO shared a graph that illustrates the temperature variations of the lunar surface/near-surface at various depths, as recorded during the probe's penetration. "This is the first such profile for the lunar south pole. Detailed observations are underway," the space agency said.

On Saturday, the space agency informed that Chandrayaan-3 had achieved two of its three main objectives. It said the demonstration of a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface was accomplished, and the demonstration of the rover roving on the moon was also accomplished. "Conducting in-situ scientific experiments is underway. All payloads are performing normally," it said.

The same day, the ISRO also shared a 40-second video in which the Pragyan rover can be seen roaming around 'Shiv Shakti' point "in pursuit of lunar secrets at the South Pole"