2023-09-04 11:57:01
“The lander Vikram He exceeded his mission objectives. He successfully performed a jumping experiment. On command, she started the engines, rose about 40 cm as expected, and landed safely at a distance of 30 to 40 cm.”
This is stated by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in its account on the social network X (formerly Twitter), where it adds: “Importance? This “starting gun” encourages future human and sample return missions.”
The Vikram lander, together with the Pragyan rover, are part of India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission in the lunar south pole region.
The maneuver took place this Sunday, as detailed by ISRO in a short video recorded by Vikram, in which it is observed how the lander raises a large amount of lunar dust after starting its engines, after which it separates slightly from the ground and returns to land a few centimeters away.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
Vikram soft-landed on , again!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…. pic.twitter.com/T63t3MVUvI
— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023
“This ‘impulse’ excites the return of future samples and human missions!” The agency added, detailing that all payloads as well as the lander ramp continued to function normally after the new moon landing.
This operation was carried out while Vikram was exhausting the last hours of sunlight on the southernmost point of the satellite, which it requires for its systems to work.
Before the Sun fully sets on this part of the Moon, ISRO will put the lander into sleep mode, as it did on Saturday with the Pragyan rover, in the hope that both components of its Chandrayaan-3 mission will return to Earth. life on September 22, with the arrival of a new dawn at the south pole of the Moon.
“Vikram will now go into sleep mode, although previously the payloads ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA will carry out experiments on site in the new location, and the data will be collected and received on Earth,” ISRO details.
The payloads turn off, he adds, but the lander’s receivers stay on. Vikram will ‘fall asleep’ next to Pragyan when the solar power runs out and the battery runs out. We await her awakening, around September 22, 2023.”
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
Vikram Lander is set into sleep mode around 08:00 Hrs. IST today.Prior to that, in-situ experiments by ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA payloads are performed at the new location. The data collected is received at the Earth.
Payloads are now switched off…. pic.twitter.com/vwOWLcbm6P— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023
The initial expectations of the Indian scientists placed the duration of the mission at 14 Earth days, equivalent to half a lunar day, during which the rover and the lander carried out a multitude of experiments to study this area of the satellite.
While Pragyan scoured the lunar soil to take images, eventually detecting the presence of sulfur, Vikram analyzed the Moon’s seismic activity, studied heat flux and near-surface plasma density, and helped further measure accurately the distance between the Earth and its satellite.
The Chandrayaan-3 probe successfully landed on the lunar south pole on August 23, making India the first country to reach this region of the Earth’s satellite, and the fourth to land on the Moon, after the United States, Russia and Chinese.
Probe to study the Sun
The last days of this mission coincide with the successful launch of the first Indian probe to study the Sun, which took off from Earth last Saturday.
For monitoring, ESA provides its network of deep space stations, with antennas in Spain, Argentina and Australia.
Aditya-L1 started generating the power.
The solar panels are deployed.The first EarthBound firing to raise the orbit is scheduled for September 3, 2023, around 11:45 Hrs. IST pic.twitter.com/AObqoCUE8I
— ISRO (@isro) September 2, 2023
Fuente: SINC/EFE
Rights: Creative Commons.
#Indias #ship #takes #small #leap #Moon