Chandrayaan-3: ISRO shares video of Pragyan rover ramping down from lander to Moon's surface; watch

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a video of Chandrayaan-3's six-wheeled robotic vehicle Pragyan rolling out of Vikram lander.

India on Wednesday scripted history as its third unmanned Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module made a flawless soft-landing, making it only the fourth country to achieve this feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.

Earlier on Thursday, the space agency informed that Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover has rolled out from the Vikram lander and is onto the lunar surface.

"Chandrayaan-3 ROVER: Made in India, Made for the MOON! The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon! More updates soon," it said.

Later, ISRO said that Chandrayaan-3's rover mobility operations have commenced. The space agency said all activities are on schedule and all systems are normal.

"All activities are on schedule. All systems are normal. Lander Module payloads ILSA, RAMBHA and ChaSTE are turned ON today. Rover mobility operations have commenced. SHAPE payload on the Propulsion Module was turned ON on Sunday," it said in a post on X while giving an update in the evening.

The space agency also shared a two-minute video containing Moon's footage taken by Chandrayaan-3 lander's camera just before the historic touchdown on the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 and its objectives are to demonstrate safe and soft-landing on the lunar surface, roving on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

Chandrayaan-2 had failed in its lunar phase when its lander 'Vikram' crashed into the surface of the Moon following anomalies in the braking system in the lander while attempting a touch down on September 7, 2019. Chandrayaan's maiden mission was in 2008.

Prior to the soft landing, ISRO had said that Chandrayaan-3's lander module has established two-way communication with the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. "Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM," the space agency wrote on X. "Two-way communication between the two is established."

Meanwhile, as the country basked under the glory of its spectacular space success, senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Minister R Ashoka said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bengaluru on August 26 to congratulate ISRO scientists and officials.

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