Chandrayaan-3 rover will ‘leave a mark of India’ on Moon surface

When the Chandrayaan-3 rover will roll out on Moon after a safelanding on August 23, it will leave an impression of the national emblem and Isro logo on the Moon’s regolith (lunar soil), leaving a mark of India on the south pole of the Moon, where no other country has ever ventured till now.



Isro has embossed on the rear wheel of the 27kg six-wheeled Pragyan rover an image of Isro logo and of the national emblem. When the rover will roll out on the Moon, the rear wheel will make a mark of the national emblem and the Isro logo on the Moon surface throughout its 100-metre path.



The Chandrayaan-3 module, comprising the propulsion, lander and rover, carries six payloads that will help Isro understand the lunar soil and also get the blue planet's photographs from the lunar orbit.



The life of the payloads carried by the propulsion module post-ejection of the lander is between three and six months. On the other hand, the mission life of the lander and the rover is 1 lunar day or 14 earth days, Isro said. Subsequent to the soft landing, the rover will roll out and carry out experiments on the lunar surface.


The rover will carry Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving the elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site, the agency said. The lander payloads, which include RAMBHA and ILSA, would study the Moon's atmosphere and dig the surface to understand its mineral composition.


Vikram will click photos of Pragyan rover as it studies the seismic activity on the Moon by dropping some instruments. Using laser beams, it would try to melt a piece of the lunar surface to study gases emitted during the process.