Chandrayaan-3: ISRO scientist explains Pragyan rover's THREE challenges on Moon's South Pole

Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover has been collecting data on the lunar surface but its speed was slowed down due to the nature of the surface of the Moon's South Pole. A senior ISRO scientist on Tuesday said that the rover had moved around 15 meters and that the space agency was trying to cover more areas of the lunar surface in the days left for the mission. The scientist said the Chandrayaan-3, which landed on the Moon on August 23, has time till September 3 evening to carry out its experiment on the lunar surface.   

Also Read: Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover clicks Vikram lander's first picture on Moon's South Pole

Nilesh Desai, Director of ISRO's Space Applications Centre, however, said the rover's movement was impacted by visibility issues, boulders, and craters on the lunar surface. The South Pole of the Moon has an uneven surface and very deep craters, that are making it difficult for the rover to move freely and smoothly. 

The other day, the rover faced its first obstacle when it located a 4-meter diameter crater positioned three meters ahead of its location. The ISRO redirected the rover to a safer path. 

  
"We hoped that if the rover moved from 5 to 30 meters then we would get more data of different areas of the lunar surface," Desai said while speaking to news agency ANI. "However, due to visibility issues...and craters and boulders, the rover movement could not be done as much as expected. But we have time till September 3 to collect as much data as we can by rover's movement." 

Earlier today, Pragyan rover clicked the first picture of Vikram lander on Moon's South Pole. The 'image of the mission' was taken by the Navigation Camera onboard the Rover (NavCam). 

The picture comes just a day after the rover confirmed the presence of sulphur on the lunar surface. "Laser-induced breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the Rover unambiguously confirms the presence of Sulphur (S) in the lunar surface near the south pole," the space agency said. 

The rover payloads also confirmed the presence of Aluminum (Al), Sulphur (S), Calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe), Chromium (Cr), and Titanium (Ti) on the lunar surface. The ISRO said further measurements have revealed the presence of manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), and oxygen (O). "Thorough investigation regarding the presence of Hydrogen is underway."

On Sunday, the ISRO released its first observation of the temperature on the lunar surface. Huge variation was noted in temperature from -10 degrees beneath the surface to 50 degrees on the surface. 

Chandrayaan-3 is targeting to carry out its experiments for one lunar day, which is equal to 14 Earth days.