Chandrayaan-3 rover comes across crater on lunar surface, reverts to safer path

Chandrayaan-3 mission's rover Pragyan was commanded to retrace its path after it came across a crater just metres ahead of its location on the lunar surface, ISRO said on Monday.

The Chandrayaan-3 rover, Pragyan, avoided a four-metre diameter crater on its path on the lunar surface on Sunday and is now headed on an alternative path, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

“On August 27, 2023, the Rover came across a 4-meter diameter crater positioned 3 metres ahead of its location. The Rover was commanded to retrace the path. It's now safely heading on a new path,” ISRO said on Monday.

The six-wheeled, 26-kg rover has been moving about the landing site in the south polar region of the moon, with its two payloads conducting experiments to determine the elemental and chemical composition of the surface. The two instruments on Pragyan are Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) and Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS).

ISRO also released images of the crater and the retraced path captured by the navigation camera on board the rover. The solar-powered Pragyan comes with two navigation cameras.

The rover and the lander, Vikram, have a mission life of one lunar day (about 14 earth days) and shut down after sunset. H N Suresh Kumar, deputy director – Mechanical Systems Area, U R Rao Satellite Centre, said the possibility of the lander and rover getting recharged on the next lunar day could not be ruled out. “We are keeping our fingers crossed. There is a possibility of a recharge after the next sunrise,” he told DH.

On August 23, the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 touched down in the moon’s south polar region, noted for its craters and trenches. Ahead of the touchdown, ISRO had released images of craters and maria (basaltic plains formed after large impacts) on the surface.

A senior scientist told DH that outside of Chandrayaan-3’s stated objectives, findings from the mission could provide insights on the presence of water frozen beneath these craters.