NB Explains | Chandrayaan-3 rover 'Pragyan' to leave imprints of India's State Emblem on Moon's surface but why

Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday afternoon to land a rover on the Moon's surface, a feat achieved by just three nations so far. The mission is a follow-up of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which failed a desired soft landing on the lunar surface nearly four years ago in September 2019.

 

 

 

Chandrayaan-3 mission consists of the main objectives of exhibiting end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. The spacecraft is expected to touchdown Moon’s south pole region on August 23. The spacecraft consists of a six-wheeled lander and rover module, configured with payloads to provide data related to the Moon's surface.

 

However, the rover on the lunar surface will be doing more than just gathering data. The 26-kilogram rover component of ISRO’s Chandrayaan 3 mission will be leaving behind tracks on the Moon as it navigates across the lunar surface.

 

The back wheels of the rover have logos of ISRO and Ashoka's Lion Emblem. One wheel has the ISRO logo and the other has Ashoka's Lion Emblem. If the mission succeeds, the rover will leave these imprints on the moon's surface making India proud.

 

 

 

The curtain raiser video shared by the ISRO on its website, offering a glimpse of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, also showcases the embossed imprints on the rover.

 

As the Moon is geologically dead, and there are no atmospheric processes, the prints on the Moon can be expected to last for millions of years into the future. The rover will navigate the lunar surface for at least an entire lunar day, which is around 14 days on Earth.

 

During the Chandrayaan-2 mission, a visual representation of the scenario was also shared by the ISRO on its YouTube channel. The video showed an animated representation of the lander arriving on the Moon’s surface, followed by the rover embarking on its mission after assessing the environment. As it started to move (at 2:45) , the rover’s rear wheels left behind the logo imprints.

 

The successful soft landing of the module will make India the fourth nation to have done it after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.