NASA Posts Pic Of Chandrayaan-3 Lander On Moon Clicked By Its Satellite
NASA has shared a stunning image of the Chandrayaan-3 lander on the lunar surface, captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) satellite. The image shows the lander and its rover in the south polar region of the Moon, where they successfully touched down on August 23, 2023.
Chandrayaan-3 is India's third mission to the Moon, and the first to land near the lunar south pole. The mission aims to demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate a rover roving on the Moon and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments. The lander carries four instruments: RAMBHA, ChaSTE, ILSA and LRA. The rover carries two instruments: APXS and LIBS. The propulsion module also carries an instrument: SHAPE.
The LRO is a NASA robotic spacecraft that has been orbiting the Moon since 2009. It has a suite of seven instruments that provide high-resolution images and data of the lunar surface and environment. One of these instruments is the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), which consists of two narrow-angle cameras (NAC) and a wide-angle camera (WAC). The NAC can capture images with a resolution of 0.5 meters per pixel, while the WAC can capture images with a resolution of 100 meters per pixel.
The image shared by NASA was taken by the NAC on August 25, 2023, when the LRO was about 100 kilometers above the Chandrayaan-3 landing site. The image shows the lander and its rover as bright spots against the dark lunar terrain. The rover can be seen near the edge of a small crater, while the lander is located about 20 meters away from it. The image also shows the tracks left by the rover as it moved around on the surface.
NASA congratulated ISRO for achieving this historic feat and expressed its interest in collaborating with India for future lunar exploration. NASA said that the LRO will continue to monitor the Chandrayaan-3 site and provide more images and data as they become available. NASA also said that the LRO data is essential for planning its own future human and robotic missions to the Moon.
The image shared by NASA has gone viral on social media, with many people praising India's achievement and expressing their admiration for ISRO. Some people also commented on the similarities and differences between Chandrayaan-3 and NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land humans on the Moon by 2024. Some people also expressed their curiosity about what Chandrayaan-3 will discover on the lunar south pole, which is a region of scientific interest due to its potential resources and unique geology.
Chandrayaan-3 is expected to operate for one lunar day, which is equivalent to about 14 Earth days. During this time, it will conduct various experiments and measurements on the lunar surface, such as studying the composition, temperature, seismic activity and plasma environment of the Moon. Chandrayaan-3 will also test some technologies that could be useful for future missions, such as laser communication and navigation.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2, which was launched in 2019 but failed to land on the Moon due to a technical glitch. Chandrayaan-2's orbiter, however, is still functioning and providing valuable data about the Moon. Chandrayaan-1 was India's first mission to the Moon, launched in 2008. It carried an impactor that crashed into the lunar surface and detected traces of water ice.
Chandrayaan-3 is a remarkable achievement for India and a testament to its space capabilities. It also marks a new milestone in lunar exploration and opens up new possibilities for scientific discovery and cooperation.
Source:
(1) Chandrayaan-3 Details - Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3_Details.html.
(2) Chandrayaan-3 mission: All you need to know about the landing. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/chandrayaan-3-landing-moon-explained-8904598/.
(3) Chandrayaan-3 - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-3.
(4) Chandrayaan-3: A complete guide to India's third mission to the moon. https://www.space.com/chandrayaan-3-indian-moon-mission-rover.
(5) Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. https://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
(6) Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter | NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html.
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