Mahiyar Patel, Pune
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that India’s Pragyan rover encountered a 4-meter diameter crater on the surface of the moon. The location of the crater was determined just 3 meters ahead of the Pragyan rover. The control center immediately rerouted the rover.
If the rover had fallen into the crater, India would have lost about 10 days worth of observational, scientific data and the numerous experiments performed by the rover. It would be an ultimate loss for India and her scientific grasp of the moon.
The potential mishap with the crater happened during the rover’s journey of exploring the lunar surface.
The Chandrayaan mission has 3 distinct objectives; to demonstrate a safe soft landing on the moon’s surface, to show roving abilities on the surface of the moon, and to conduct in situation scientific experiments on the surface of the moon.
Chandrayaan-3 became a pioneer when it profiled the soil of the South Pole of the moon and its many temperature variations up to 10cm beneath the surface. Pragyan is fitted with a temperature probe that has a penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10cm below the surface. It is entirely fitted with 10 such individual temperature sensors.
All the rover’s components are entirely solar-powered, and with nine more days to go before the lunar sunset, the mission life of the rover will end on September 6. Therefore, all operations and experiments have to be concluded by then.