Chandrayaan-3: Pragyan rover successfully crosses first obstacle on Moon

In a significant development for India's space exploration, the Pragyan rover, part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, has successfully negotiated its first lunar obstacle. The rover, which, landed on the Moon's south polar regionon August 23, managed to traverse a lunar crater with a depth of around 100 mm.

 

 

 

This achievement has instilled confidence in the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) control room back home, which continues to guide and monitor the rover through several such challenges.

 

The Pragyan rover's movements are not fully autonomous and are controlled from Bengaluruwith each step requiring careful planning and execution, involving many steps.

 

According to reports, for every route planning, onboard navigation camera data needs to be downloaded to the ground for the generation of a digital elevation model (DEM). Then, the ground and mechanisms team decide which path to take and uplink the command for the rover to follow.

 

However, there are limitations to the rover's operations. The maximum DEM that can be generated is for five meters each time the navigation camera sends images. This means that every time the rover is commanded to move, it can at best cover five meters.

 

 

 

In an interview with private news agency, Chandrayaan-3 project director P Veeramuthuvel said that even within this range, there are obstacles and challenges. Despite these challenges, therover successfully overcame its first obstacle, a lunar crater, much to the relief of the ISRO team.

 

The rover's movements also face limitations such as non-availability of telemetry and telecommunications 24/7, and the need to track the sun continuously.As a result, the turnaround time between each movement operation is around five hours. Despite these challenges, the project director expressed confidence in the rover's progressand the possibility of good outcomes.

 

The Pragyan rover, equipped with a variety of instruments, is tasked with studying the moon's geology and atmosphere. It has already traversed a distance of about eight meters since its rollout from the lander.

 

The rover's successful negotiation of its first lunar obstacle marks a historic moment in India's space mission, paving the way for further exploration and understanding of the lunar surface