“Pragyan” lunar rover completed all tasks and was put into sleep mode
August 31. ISRO showed a video with the maneuvers of the “Pragyan” lunar rover, recorded using the on-board camera of the “Vikram” lander.
ISRO engineers from Earth operated the rover and rotated it several times in search of a safe route to bypass the crater.
On August 30, ISRO announced that the Pragyan rover took a picture of the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 mission using the NavCams navigation camera.
In the left part of the landing module, you can see the elements of the device for thermophysical research of the ChaSTE surface (a probe that plunges into the regolith to a depth of 10 cm and measures the thermal conductivity of the soil), on the right, under the module, you can see the ILSA three-component seismograph.
On August 29, the LIBS device of the “Pragyan” lunar rover confirmed the presence of sulfur on the surface of the Moon. These are the first stories of measuring the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole. They unequivocally confirmed the presence of sulfur in this region, which the instruments of the orbiters could not do.
August 28. ISRO reportedthat the “Pragyan” lunar rover was able to avoid falling into a crater with a diameter of 4 meters.
The lunar rover managed to stop 3 meters from the crater. From the TSUP on Earth, he was ordered to return back earlier along the road so as not to lose speed and fall into an obstacle that the apparatus cannot overcome. “Pragyan” performed a U-turn maneuver in front of a dangerous crater and traveled along its tracks to conduct further studies of the lunar surface.
ISRO showed in the video that the “Pragyan” lunar rover successfully overcame the first serious obstacle on the surface of the moon. The device was able to drive beyond a small but deep crater and unfolded to charge the batteries.
In the course of ongoing research, the Indian module “Vikram” has already made an important discovery, recording a record temperature of the surface of the Moon at the level of 70°C.
ISRO explained that as part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which cost India $75 million, already achieved three important goals:
• a safe and soft landing on the surface of the Moon was performed;
• the first movement of the lunar rover on the surface of the Moon was carried out;
• scientific experiments are being conducted on the lunar rover and the landing module, all research instruments on the vehicles are working normally.
August 25. ISRO showed the first video of the descent of the Pragyan rover to the surface of the Moon from the Chandrayaan-3 lander.
The video lasts a little more than 20 seconds, on it the lunar rover first descends the landing module “Chandrayan-3” on the lunar surface, which is dotted with small craters.
The Indian lunar rover “Pragyan” has already crossed eight meters of the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite, the Indian Space Research Organization reported. The LBIS spectroscope and the APXS spectrometer were activated on the rover for scientific research.
ISRO showed video recording of the landing of the Chandrayaan-3 module from the on-board camera of the Lander Imager Camera.
August 24. ISRO reported about the first landing of the “Pragyan” lunar rover on the surface of the Moon. The device successfully rolled out of its transit module, descended a special ramp onto the lunar soil and made its first movements on the surface. “The lunar lander of the Chandrayaan-3 mission disembarked from the lander, and India walked on the moon,” ISRO said.
The moon exposed the solar cells using a wire connected to the Vikram lander. As soon as all elements of the apparatus are ready for work, it will begin its scientific mission.
Two cameras and two scientific instruments are installed on the “Pragyan” lunar rover:
• LIBS laser spectrometer (determines the elemental composition of the rock based on the spectrum of the vaporized substance);
• alpha X-ray spectrometer APXS for contact determination of the elemental composition of soil and rocks using X-ray fluorescence. ISRO specifically mentions magnesium, aluminum, silicon, potassium, calcium, titanium and iron as elements that the rover will “hunt for”.
Four scientific instruments are installed on the Chandrayaan-3 lander:
• Langmuir RAMBHA-LP probe for plasma research;
• a device for thermophysical research of the ChaSTE surface (it is a probe that sinks into the regolith to a depth of 10 cm and measures the thermal conductivity of the soil);
• ILSA (Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity) three-component seismograph;
• LRA corner reflectors for lunar laser location (courtesy of NASA).
In ISRO explained, that the scientific instruments on the lander are turned on and in working order. ISRO engineers have started receiving telemetry and science data from the Chandrayaan-3 module on the moon.
On August 23, 2023, at 15:33 Moscow time, the automatic interplanetary station “Chandrayan-3” made a soft landing on the surface of the Moon.
The ISRO Central Command confirmed that stable communication with the Chandrayaan-3 lander was established after the impurity procedure, and telemetry from the device is being received. ISRO has shown the first image from the on-board camera of the Vikram lander after the procedure of landing the device on the moon.
“Communication has been established between the Chandrayaan-3 lander and MOX-ISTRAC (Network Flight Support Telemetry, Tracking and Control Center) located in Bangalore,” ISRO said in a statement.
It is planned that the lunar rover and the landing module will work for about two weeks until the first lunar night.