India's Chandrayaan-3 rover out on Moon’s surface: What next?

After successfully landing on the moon’s south pole on August 23, India’s Chandrayaan-3 will now explore an uncharted territory — which is believed to hold frozen water. The spacecraft, which consists of a lander, rover, and propulsion module, is equipped with several instruments that will help carry out a series of in-situ scientific experiments on the Moon in a single lunar day, which is equal to 14 days on Earth.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) announced on Thursday that the rover on board the lander has rolled out onto the moon’s surface.

“The Ch-3 [Chandrayaan-3] Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon!” Isro tweeted.

According to Isro, Chandrayaan-3 has three mission objectives — to achieve a safe and soft landing on the moon; demonstrate “rover roving” on the moon; and conduct in-situ experiments.

Lunar experiments explained

>> For the lander

The lander has four payloads with each having a different objective. The Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) on board the lander will measure the “near-surface plasma (ions and electrons) density and its changes with time,” according to the official page for Chandrayaan-3.

The second experiment, Chandra’s Surface Thermo physical Experiment (ChaSTE), will be tasked with carrying out the “measurements of thermal properties of the lunar surface near-polar region”.

The lander’s Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) will measure the seismicity around the area where the spacecraft landed while also “delineating the structure of the lunar crust and mantle”.

The lander is also equipped with the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA), which is a passive experiment that will understand the dynamics of the moon’s system.

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