Chandrayaan-3: Pragyan rover encounters 4-m-wide crater, alters path

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New Delhi, August 28

ISRO on Monday said the Pragyan rover exploring the lunar south pole came across a four-metre diameter crater positioned three metres ahead of its location on Sunday, but it was turned around successfully.

Two of mission’s 3 objectives achieved

• Chandrayaan-3 mission’s three main objectives were soft landing on the lunar surface, movement of the Pragyan rover and obtaining science data via payloads
• Two main objectives have been accomplished successfully, and the third objective — in-situ scientific experiments — is underway

“The Rover was commanded to retrace the path. It’s now safely heading on a new path. #Chandrayaan_3,”

the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) posted on X. With only 10 days remaining for the completion of one lunar day, which will mark the end of mission life of Pragyan, ISRO scientists are working to cover a maximum distance of the uncharted south pole through the six-wheeled rover. The rover has two scientific payloads to analyse the mineral and chemical composition of lunar soil.

“On August 23, we achieved a soft landing on the lunar surface. But, the real work started after rover Pragyan rolled out of the lander Vikram,” said Nilesh M Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre, one of the major centres of national space agency.

Desai said the moon mission’s three main objectives were: soft landing on the lunar surface, movement of the Pragyan rover and obtaining science data via payloads, attached to the six-wheeled rover and lander Vikram. “Our two main objectives have been accomplished successfully, but our third objective is underway,” he said.