A 4-meter-wide crater caused a course correction
Isro
The Indian lunar rover successfully maneuvered around a small crater and continued to explore unexplored areas near Antarctica, while the mother lander returned its first scientific data as the Chandrayaan-3 mission neared its halfway point. sent.
Four hours after the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) rover touched down on August 23, as the sun rose over the landing site, the six-wheeled Praya rover, weighing just 26 kilograms, rolled off the Vikram lander. , fell on the moon. surface.
While ISRO engineers conducted tests and waited for the solar panels to start generating electricity, the rover sat near the lander before setting off across the surface. On 27 August Prajan encountered a crater four meters wide and had to change course.The rover is now ‘safely on a new path’, ISRO says tweeted August 28th.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission also provided the first useful scientific data by sampling the temperature of subsurface lunar dust with a device called ChaSTE (Chandra Surface Thermophysics Experiment) on board the lander. At a depth of 20 millimeters, the temperature was about 40°C (104°F), but due to the low thermal conductivity of dust, the temperature dropped rapidly, dropping to -10°C (14°F). I was. Depth is 80mm.
This means there can be liquid or frozen water just below the surface, which can have a significant impact on manned missions. Water can be drunk by astronauts and used to make breathable oxygen and rocket fuel.
Trajectory of the Playa rover on the moon
Isro
John Bridges Researchers at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom said the moon’s low atmospheric pressure makes it unlikely that liquid water will be found near the surface, even in regions where temperatures are above freezing and water cannot be trapped in ice. It has said. Because it boils away, at lower depths the pressure may rise enough to allow liquid water. But it’s too early to interpret the measurements from Chandrayaan-3, he says.
“But it’s great that they’re getting the data,” Bridges said. “You can’t help but compare it to certain other space agencies. Engineers are working on it right now. They’re kind of overtaking Russia.”
The Chandrayaan-3 mission’s official lifespan is largely over. Both the lander and rover will operate during his lunar day (equivalent to his 14th Earth day), which began on August 23rd. This is limited by the sunset’s reduced ability to harvest energy from the solar panels, but also by the sub-zero temperatures that the equipment must withstand overnight, down to -238°C.
ISRO did not respond to a request for comment, but Mission Director M. Srikanth said: Indian era Engineers are now “confident” that the rover and lander will be revived after the coming lunar night.
“Our priority is to ensure that we meet the project’s goal of obtaining one lunar day’s worth of scientific data. We are focused on rover mobility and payload operations. continues for another 7 days, after which the system goes to sleep when the sun sets.” Srikanth said.. “So far all margins have been good and I am confident that we will have the lander and rover back by nightfall. Even so, the mission is complete.”
If the cold doesn’t damage the hardware, both the rover and lander are designed to harvest solar power when available and wake up to resume communication with Earth. Srikanth said the rover will be parked before sunset in a position where it is most likely to achieve this when the sun rises again.
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