Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) claims that the Vikram Lander “has exceeded Chandrayaan-3 mission goals and conducted a “hop experiment.”
The Indian space agency today declared that the Vikram Lander has successfully touched down on the lunar surface once more, many days after Chandrayaan-3’s flawless moon landing.
The spacecraft, according to ISRO, “fired the engines on command, elevated itself by about 40 cm as anticipated, and safely landed at a distance of 30 to 40 cm away.”
The space agency reports that Vikram’s systems are sound and have been operating regularly. According to the announcement, Vikram’s systems successfully deployed a ramp, folded back its equipment, and redeployed it following the testing.
On Thursday, the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s Pragyan rover was “put into Sleep mode,” but with charged batteries and a turned-on radio.
I’m hoping for a successful waking so I can tackle some new chores. According to the space agency, if not, it will stay there forever as India’s lunar envoy.
India was the first country to come close to the lunar south pole with its Chandrayaan-3 lander last month.
The country has erupted in jubilation with Chandrayaan-3’s flawless touchdown after a failed attempt in 2019. India’s largest scientific accomplishment is being praised as a result of the landing. It happened just a few days after a Russian lander crashed nearby.
The country has been gradually catching up with other space programs’ achievements at a fraction of the cost. Last Monday, Aditya-L1, ISRO’s first Sun mission, was successfully launched. The mission’s primary objectives are to understand coronal heating and solar wind acceleration.
ISRO intends to conduct a three-day crewed mission into Earth’s orbit before the end of the year. Additionally, it has plans to work with Japan to launch a second probe to the Moon by 2025 and an orbital mission to Venus two years after that.