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What Chandrayaan-3 Discovered

September 13, 2023 14:52 IST

Three Wednesdays ago, on August 23, Chandrayaan-3 landed close to the Moon's south pole, making space history.

Over the next 10 days, Chandrayaan's lander Vikram and rover Pragyan sent images of the lunar surface to ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru.

Glimpses of what the historic Chandrayaan Mission discovered on the dark side of the Moon.

Quest For The Moon's Far Side

Glimpses of the far side of the moon captured by Chandrayaan-3.

August 19

Before landing on the moon Chandrayaan-3 took a few pictures.

IMAGE: The Mare Humboldtianum captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC) on board Chandrayaan-3 on August 19.
Mare Humboldtianum is a lunar mare (a large, level basalt plain on the surface of the moon, appearing dark by contrast with highland areas).
It is situated between near (visible) and far sides of the Moon, like a link between the known and unknown. All photographs: Kind courtesy ISRO

IMAGE: The Bel'kovich area captured by the LHDAC on August 19.
Bel'kovich is the large ring in the centre with the 87 km Hayn to its northwest.

IMAGE: The lunar crater Hayn on the far side area shot by the LHDAC on August 19.
Hayn is a lunar impact crater that lies next to the northeast limb of the Moon.

IMAGE: Another lunar crater Boss L on the far side area shot by the LHDAC on August 19.
Boss L is a lunar impact crater that is located along the northeast rim of the Moon's near side.

August 23

While landing on the moon.

IMAGE: Photographs of the lunar surface taken during Chandrayaan-3's descent on August 23.

When Chandrayaan-3 landed on the Moon.

IMAGE: Chandrayaan-3 Lander captures the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter.

August 24

After the landing.

IMAGE: Portion of the Chandrayaan landing site taken after landing.

The Pragyan Rover exits the Vikram Lander and takes a moon walk.

IMAGE: The Pragyan Rover exits the Vikram Lander.

IMAGE: The tyre trails of the Pragyan Rover can be seen from the Vikram Lander.

IMAGE: The crater that the Rover encountered on August 24 as seen by the navigation camera.

August 27

Chandrayaan-3's Lander Vikram and Rover Pragyan begin their mission.

The first observations from the Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) payload onboard the Vikram Lander.

The ChaSTE is used to measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon's surface.

It has a temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10 cm beneath the surface.

The probe is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors.

Another payload on board is the Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA), to measure seismicity around the landing site.

IMAGE: The path retraced by the Rover on August 27.

August 28

The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) confirms the presence of Sulphur on the lunar surface through unambiguous in-situ measurements.

The LIBS instrument on board the Chandrayaan-3 rover made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole.

These in-situ measurements unambiguously confirm the presence of Sulphur in the region, something that was not feasible by the instruments on board the orbiters.

IMAGE: The Vikram Lander as seen by the Pragyan Rover.

August 30

The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on board the Pragyan Rover detects the presence of minor elements.

It helps to find what the lunar soil and rocks are made of in the south polar region at the landing site and how different it is from other highland regions on the Moon.

IMAGE: A close-up of the Vikram Lander's payload ChaSTE and ILSA.

August 31

ILSA listened to the movements around the landing site.

The Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere -- the Langmuir Probe(RAMBHA-LP) -- on board Chandrayaan-3 measured near-surface plasma content.

September 04

The lander and rover are currently in sleep mode. Await their awakening around September 22, 2023.

Text source: Kind courtesy ISRO

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com

ASHISH NARSALE