Chandrayaan-3 lander makes another soft landing on lunar surface

The Indian Space Research Organisation said on Monday that the Vikram lander has made another soft landing on the moon’s surface as part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The lander fired its engines, elevated itself by about 40 centimetres, and landed safely 30-40 centimetres away in a “hop experiment”, the space agency said.

“Importance? This ‘kick-start’ enthuses future sample return and human missions!” ISRO said on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Vikram lander has now exceeded its mission objectives, it remarked.

A ramp fixed to the lander and its ChaSTE and ILSA systems were folded back and then redeployed successfully after the experiment, ISRO added.

ChaSTE, short for Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment, measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the south pole. The ILSA, or Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity, payload aims to measure ground vibrations generated by natural quakes, impacts, and artificial events.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
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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

Later in the evening, ISRO announced that the Vikram lander has been put into sleep mode.

“Prior to that, in-situ experiments...

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