India's moon rover did a 'Michael Jackson Act' on the moon - it moonwalked

Chennai, August 25

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India’s moon rover did a ‘Michael Jackson act’ on the lunar surface after walking down the ramp.

Well, it moonwalked after slowly rolling down on the moon lander’s ramp, said the Indian space agency.

Moonwalk is a dance move that became very popular after Michael Jackson did that during the performance of Bille Jean on ‘Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, and For ever’.

The lander – part of the Chanrayaan-3 spacecraft – had landed safely near the moon’s South Pole on Wednesday in a textbook style.

In a post on X on Thursday, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said: “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!”

While the rover did its moonwalk on Thursday, ISRO released the much-awaited video on Friday.

On the idea, taken by the camera on the lander – India’s first lunar selfie – the rover with its solar panel deployed can be seen slowly going down the ramp, touching the moon soil and moving forward.

One can also see the rover’s wheel imprint on the lunar soil as well as the shadow of the rover with solar panel.

ISRO posted: “Lander Module payloads ILSA, RAMBHA and ChaSTE are turned ON today (Thursday). Rover mobility operations have commenced. All activities are on schedule. All systems are normal.”

According to the space agency, on Sunday, the propulsion module payload SHAPE was turned on.

With the landing, a major portion of the Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission has been realised.