The Pragyan Rover is Sleeping on the Moon

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Image (Credit): Photo of the Vikram lander, which put the Pragyan rover on the Moon. (ISRO via AP/Alamy)

After a few weeks of work, India’s Pragyan rover on the Moon’s south pole was put to sleep last weekend to sit out the long lunar evening. It accomplished all of its goals, according to a Tweet from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO):

We shall know in a few weeks whether the little lander is ready for more work.

Nature magazine noted some of the findings from the rover’s primary mission, including:

  • ions and electrons swirling near the lunar pole;
  • variations in soil temperature;
  • a moonquake; and
  • presence of sulfur and other elements.

Whatever happens, the Indian rover has been a great success.

India Has Been Busy – It Now Heads for the Sun

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Over the weekend, India launched another important space mission. The mission of the Aditya-L1 spacecraft is to spend four months studying the outer layers of the Sun.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is overseeing the mission, which will come to rest at the L1 Lagrange point from where it will observe the Sun.

For more details on the mission, check out the ISRO website where you can find details about the spacecraft’s objectives and scientific equipment.

This latest mission comes right after India’s successful landing on the Moon, showing all of us that it is not resting on its laurels. The country clearly wants to be in the forefront of the space and science race.

Space Quote: The Changing Competition in Space and Elsewhere

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Image (Credit): 3D view of a crater on the Moon generated from images captured by Chandrayaan 2 orbiter’s Terrain Mapping Camera in 2019. (ISRO)

“…a comparison with India is illuminating: India’s economy was about half the size of Russia’s when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Today, India’s economy is 50 percent bigger than Russia’s. Forget about keeping pace with the United States: Russia can’t keep up with India.”

-Editorial in The Washington Post by David Von Drehle titled “India’s Brilliant Moon Landing Illuminates Russia’s Drastic Decline.” India’s steady progress on space missions, including Chandrayaan 2 back in 2019 (shown above), has occurred during Russia’s slow decline and current situation. This cannot be lost on Russia as its cosmonaut traveled to the International Space Station this weekend aboard an American rocket. Around the world, space programs are moving on without Russia, which was the leading nation at the start of the Space Age.

Pic of the Week: Another View of the Far Side of the Moon

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Image (Credit): Lunar surface as captured by India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. (ISRO)

This week’s image is an shot of the far side of the Moon captured by India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which landed on the Moon yesterday. This was part of a set of photos posted to Twitter by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The various images were used by the spacecraft as it attempted to find a safe landing spot, which it fortunately found.

“India Is on the Moon”

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Image (Credit): The ISRO mission control room celebrating the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission on the Moon. (ISRO)

Now that is a clear message from S. Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on the lunar surface at  8:34 am ET today.

India is now the fourth nation to land on the moon, not that other nations haven’t tried.

This victory is all the sweeter following Russia’s loss of the Luna-25 spacecraft. We needed some good news this week.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated:

Congratulations ISRO on your successful Chandrayaan-3 lunar South Pole landing! And congratulations to India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon. We’re glad to be your partner on this mission!

NASA provided the mission with a passive laser retroreflector array for lunar ranging studies.

The mission rover (shown below) should be moving about south pole soon enough to start its experiments in the vicinity.

You can learn more about the mission and equipment at this ISRO site.

Credit: ISRO