Chandrayaan-3: ISRO releases video of Pragyan rover crawling out of Vikram lander's belly on Moon's surface | Watch
Chandrayaan-3 LIVE Updates: Pragyan rover comes out of Vikram lander's belly | Watch ISRO video After a 40-day journey into space, the Chandrayaan-3 lander, 'Vikram', touched down on the uncharted lunar South Pole on Wednesday evening, making India the first country to do so. Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's lander module comprising the lander (Vikram) and the 26-kg rover (Pragyan) made the soft landing near the south polar region of the moon at 6.04 pm, less than a week after a similar Russian lander Luna-25 crashed.
Also read: ISRO releases pictures of Chandrayaan-3 lander taken from Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, deletes tweet later The rover, named "Pragyan" which means "wisdom" in Sanskrit, has two instruments to conduct element and chemical composition experiments, and a robotic path planning exercise for future exploration. Also read: Chandrayaan-3 latest update: ISRO says moon walk begins as Rover Pragyan rolls on The six-wheeled, solar-powered rover will amble around the relatively unmapped region and transmit images and scientific data over a 14-day lifespan (one lunar daylight period).
The rover will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility. It would study the surface of the moon through its payload APXS - Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer - to derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of the lunar surface.
Pragyan also has another payload--Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) to determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site. On the other hand, the Lander's payload--RAMBHA-LP will measure the near-surface plasma (ions and electrons) density and its changes with time
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