India’s Pragyan rover meets obstacle on moon, retraces path

The Indian Space Research Organisation said that the Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyaan rover which successfully landed on the moon’s South Pole on August 23, came across a 4-metre diameter crater positioned three metres ahead of its location on the lunar surface on Sunday.

The space agency made this known in a statement via X, formerly Twitter on Monday while sharing the images.

The statement reads, “On August 27, 2023, the Rover came across a 4-metre diameter crater positioned 3 meters ahead of its location. The Rover was commanded to retrace the path. It’s now safely heading on a new path.”

According to the ISRO, the rover is now safely heading on a new path.

In a separate statement via X, (formerly Twitter), on Sunday, ISRO revealed that of the Chandrayaan-3’s mission’s three objectives, two had been achieved including a demonstration of a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface and a demonstration of rover roving on the moon.

“Of the three mission objectives, Demonstration of a Safe and Soft Landing on the Lunar Surface is accomplished, Demonstration of Rover roving on the moon is accomplished.

It further said that the in-situ scientific experiments were underway while all the payloads were performing normally.

The statement added, “Conducting in-situ scientific experiments is underway. All payloads are performing normally.”

The Chandrayaan-3, for the first time ever in the history of world space science, profiled the soil of the South Pole of the moon, its temperature variation up till 10cm beneath the surface in a separate statement on Sunday.

The statement reads, “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Here are the first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander. ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon’s surface. It has a temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10 cm beneath the surface. The probe is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors.

“The presented graph illustrates the temperature variations of the lunar surface/near-surface at various depths, as recorded during the probe’s penetration. This is the first such profile for the lunar South Pole. Detailed observations are underway. The payload is developed by a team led by the Space Physics Laboratory, VSSC collaboration with PRL, Ahmedabad

The space agency had earlier shared the visuals of Pragyan rover roaming around the ‘Shiv Shakti’ Point, the landing point of Chandrayaan-3, on the lunar surface. It also rolled out over the surface of the Moon and covered a distance of eight metres.

India becomes the fourth country – after the US, China, and Russia – to have successfully landed on the moon’s surface.