The moon rover of India's Chandrayaan-3 exited the spacecraft on Thursday to begin exploring the surface of the lunar south pole and conducting experiments, and was braced for new challenges, the space agency chief said.
The spacecraft landed on the unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday, making India the first country to achieve this feat just days after Russia's Luna-25 failed in a similar mission.
"All activities are on schedule. All systems are normal," ISRO posted on X, formerly Twitter."Rover mobility operations have commenced."The rover, named"Pragyan", has two instruments to conduct element and chemical composition experiments, and a robotic path planning exercise for future exploration. Lunar dust is different from that on the surface of earth and in the absence of air on the moon, it could stick to materials of the rover, impacting its operation, he said.
The moon's rugged south pole is coveted because of its water ice, or frozen water, which could prove to be a source of fuel, oxygen, and drinking water for future missions, but its rough terrain makes landing challenging.People across the country tuned in to watch the landing on Wednesday, with nearly 7 million people viewing the YouTube live stream alone.
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