Hyderabad:The ISRO has said the Vikram Lander soft-landed on the moon again, kindling the hopes of space enthusiasts on the future manned Lunar missions, on Monday.
The space agency said, "Vikram soft-landed on Moon, again!" The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wrote this in an X post.
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, the short statement said.
On the ramifications it will have on the space programme, the agency said it "enthuses future sample return and human missions." "Importance?: This 'kick-start' enthuses future sample return and human missions! All systems performed nominally and are healthy. Deployed Ramp, ChaSTE and ILSA were folded back and redeployed successfully after the experiment."
Meanwhile, after a successful hop test, ISRO on Monday said Vikram has exceeded its objectives and now its payloads have been switched off. The hop test will help scientists in future Moon missions where samples could be brought back to Earth and more importantly help the human missions being planned, ISRO added.
The space agency said Vikram Lander has been set into sleep mode around 8 am Monday. Payloads have been switched off while lander receivers are kept on. Before going into sleep mode, in-situ experiments by ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA payloads on lander were performed at the new location. The data collected was received at the Earth.
India's Moon mission touched down on the lunar south pole at 6.03 pm on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. It propelled the nation to an exclusive club of four and also making it the first country to land on the uncharted surface. India scripted history as ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission touched down on Moon's surface.
The Lander Module comprising the Vikram Lander and the Pragyan Rover weighing 26 kg, made the soft landing near the south polar region of the Moon less than a week after a similar Russian lander crashed.
With this touchdown on moon in second attempt in four years, India has become the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union. The Monday (Sept 4, 2023) news reiterates its Space prowess.
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.
