Just last month, India's Vikram moon lander was able to pull off a historic stunt of landing on the Moon. Now, it was able to demonstrate another successful feat.
India's Vikram Moon Lander's Second Landing on the Moon
The Vikram lander ramped up its engines and was able to float over the lunar surface at an altitude of around 15 inches. It then pulled off some lateral movements.
The lander then landed shortly after, at a distance of 11 to 15 inches from where it previously sat. This soft landing is a feat that shows the growing prowess that India is gaining in a space context. There has only been one other craft that was able to do this maneuver.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) also reported that the lander's systems performed healthily and nominally.
This soft landing could one day pave the path for a novel sample return mission to be held in the future, as this mission would necessitate a launch from the surface of the Moon.
Not long after the Vikram lander reached the Moon just two weeks ago, it deployed a six-wheeled and smaller rover known as Pragyaan. Since then, the rover has been spending its time looking for water ice signs across the surface.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023
🇮🇳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
Vikram Undergoes Planned Hibernation
This demonstration took place right before the Vikram was set to undergo planned hibernation. The lander has fallen asleep beside Pragyaan after the depletion and draining of its battery and solar power.
The ISRO hopes that they will awaken by September 22, though this is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, their solar panels are designed to get light from the next sunrise.
If Vikram fails to awake from this hibernation, it would mark the end of the mission. Nevertheless, the ISRO is hopeful for its successful awakening, or else it would remain a "lunar ambassador" of the country.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
— ISRO (@isro) September 2, 2023
The Rover completed its assignments.
It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode.
APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off.
Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander.
Currently, the battery is fully charged.
The solar panel is…
India's Chandrayaan-3 Mission
The Chandrayaan-3 mission was meant to only last two weeks, or one lunar day. It was the first robotic craft to travel 239,000 miles, or 384,633 kilometers, all the way to the Moon and to safely land at a craggy and dark lunar region.
This successful performance has made India part of the elites, including the US, China, and the former Soviet Union, who were able to deploy crafts that successfully landed on the lunar surface. It also came four years after the earlier Chandrayaan-2 mission crashed when it tried to pull off the same performance.
After the August 23 landing, the craft looked into the seismic activity, chemical composition, and plasma content of the area close to the landing site.
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