Chandrayaan-3: What's Pragyan rover up to hours after Vikram's landing?

Amidst the world celebrating and congratulating the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the successful touchdown of Chandrayaan-3, the groundwork for the upcoming phase of lunar exploration has been initiated with the Pragyan rover coming out of the lander.

On Wednesday at 6:04 pm, the Vikram Lander of Chandrayaan-3 achieved a remarkable feat by touching down on the previously unexplored southern pole of the Moon. This achievement distinguishes India as the only nation to successfully achieve a landing in this crater-rich region that has captivated astronomers due to its water ice deposits.

Approximately four hours following the Moon landing of the Vikram Lander, at around 10 pm, a side panel of the lander unfurled, forming a ramp for the Pragyan Rover. Weighing 26 kg and equipped with six wheels, the Pragyan Rover measures 0.9 × 0.75 × 0.85 meters and proudly bears the ISRO logo on its wheels. Moving at a deliberate pace of 1 centimetre per second, the rover will rely on navigation cameras to survey its lunar surroundings.

The timeline for both the lander and the rover to conduct their studies on the Moon's surface is approximately 14 days, corresponding to a single lunar day. After this period, the extreme cold of minus 238 degrees Celsius prevalent at the South Pole could potentially compromise their instruments. Nonetheless, S. Somanath, the chairman of ISRO, remains hopeful for an extension, aspiring for both the lander and rover to persist through another lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days.

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The payloads housed within the lander encompass an array of scientific instruments. These include Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE), designed for gauging thermal conductivity and temperature; the Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA), dedicated to measuring seismic phenomena around the landing zone; the Langmuir Probe (LP), tasked with estimating plasma density and its fluctuations; and a passive Laser Retroreflector Array, contributed by NASA to facilitate lunar laser ranging studies.

These scientific instruments serve a multitude of purposes, ranging from measuring the density of ions and electrons near the lunar surface to investigating thermal properties, seismic activity, and the composition of the lunar crust and mantle structure.

Simultaneously, the Pragyan Rover is outfitted with an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS), vital tools for analysing the composition of the Moon's atmosphere and surface. Throughout the ensuing 14 days, the rover will accumulate this valuable data and transmit it to the lander. Subsequently, the lander will relay the information to the Chandrayaan-2 satellite, which will then transmit the data to Earth.

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