The Pragyan rover of Chandrayaan-3 has sent across a picture of the Vikram lander on the surface of the Moon. The picture was taken this morning from a distance. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that the ‘image of the mission’ was taken by the Navigation Camera onboard the Rover (NavCam).
The image shows Vikram lander perched on the surface of the Moon. ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) which recently measured the temperature profile of the lunar surface on the South Pole to understand the thermal behaviour of the Moon’s surface can also be seen in the picture sent over by the Pragyan rover.
Tweeting the picture, ISRO said, “Smile, please! Pragyan Rover clicked an image of Vikram Lander this morning. The ‘image of the mission’ was taken by the Navigation Camera onboard the Rover (NavCam). NavCams for the Chandrayaan-3 Mission are developed by the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS).”
On Tuesday, the Pragyan Rover confirmed the presence of Sulphur on the lunar surface. ISRO said that the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the Pragyan Rover unambiguously confirmed the presence of Sulphur (S) on the lunar surface near the south pole.
Not just Sulphur, the Pragyan rover has also detected the presence of Aluminium, Calcium, Ferrous (Iron), Chromium, Titanium, Manganese, Silicon and Oxygen, the space agency said. “Search for hydrogen is underway,” ISRO said.
Nilesh Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre, ISRO said the spectral line of sulfur is distinctly observable at the South Pole.
While speaking with ANI, Nilesh Desai said, “There are two payloads in the rover, X-ray spectrograph and laser-induced spectrograph. According to its initial findings, the spectral line of sulphur is clearly visible in the south pole. In the south pole, sulphur is clearly visible.”
On August 23, the Vikram lander onboard the Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully landed on the surface of the Moon at the uncharted South Pole, making India the first country to explore the region and the fourth– after the US, China, and Russia – to have successfully landed on the lunar surface.
(With agency inputs)
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Updated: 30 Aug 2023, 02:52 PM IST