The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has released today the first images of the development of its Chandrayaan-3 space mission on the surface of the Moon, including the first steps of its explorer after the successful landing on the south pole of the satellite. .
The Indian space agency shared two photographs of the place on which it landed on the social network X (Twitter). Chandrayaan-3 last Wednesday, and which were taken by the orbiter that India sent to the Moon on its last mission to the satellite.
“I spy on you,” ISRO wrote in a message to accompany the images posted on the X account of the mission, where the cratered lunar surfaceamong which is the Chandrayaan-3 lander.
Route
The agency also released a short video of its Pragyaan rover’s first moments on the Moon, showing the six-wheeler descending down a small ramp protruding from the Vikram lander, to begin its journey across the lunar surface.
The machine, about 23 kilograms, is a six wheel robot which will collect information and images of the lunar soil that it will send back to Earth. It will also help the Indian space agency to study the composition of the lunar surface using X-rays and lasers.
Seismic activity
In turn, the lander has four scientific instruments or payloads, which will analyze the seismic activity of the Moon, study the heat flux and density of the plasma near the surface, and will allow a more precise measurement of the distance between the Earth and its satellite.
Both elements will send data to ISRO scientists for 14 Earth days, equivalent to one day of light on the Moon, since the two depend on sunlight to work.
Related news
To do this they will depend on the orbiter that the predecessor mission of Chandrayaan-3 stopped working in 2019 around the Moon, The only surviving component of that mission, after the lander crashed into the lunar surface during descent.
Four years later, the historic moon landing of its successor made India the fourth nation to land on the moon, along with the US, Russia and China, and the first to land on its south pole.