Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing: India made history last month
New Delhi:
Days after Chandrayaan-3’s successful moon landing, the Vikram Lander has “soft-landed” on the lunar surface again, the Indian space agency said today.
“Vikram Lander has exceeded Chandrayaan-3 mission objectives and successfully completed a “hop experiment”,” said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
“On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away,” ISRO said.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
🇮🇳Vikram soft-landed on 🌖, again!Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment.
On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away.… pic.twitter.com/T63t3MVUvI
— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023
ISRO said this achievement “kickstart enthuses future sample return and human missions.”
Last week, the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s Pragyan rover was “set into Sleep mode” but with batteries charged and receiver on.
“Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments. Else, it will forever stay there as India’s lunar ambassador,” the space agency said.
India made history as the first country to land near the south pole of the moon with its Chandrayaan-3 lander last month.
Chandrayaan-3’s soft, textbook touchdown after a failed attempt in 2019 has sparked widespread jubilation in the country. The landing is being seen as India’s greatest scientific feat
