Chandrayaan-3: Vikram Lander Successfully Lands On Moon Again, Passes 'Hop Experiment'

ISRO's Vikram Lander successfully underwent a 'Hop test' on Monday when it touched down on the surface of the moon again.

In this image released by ISRO, Vikram Lander is seen on the surface of the Moon as captured by the Navigation Camera (NavCam) onboard Pragyan Rover.

Source : PTI

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday said that it conducted a hop test following which the 'Vikram Lander' touched down on the surface of the Moon again successfully. On the commands of ISRO, the 'Vikram Lander' fired the engines, elevated itself by around 40 centimetres (as expected by the space agency) and landed safely at a spot that was 30 to 40 centimetres away from its original landing spot. The significance given by the space agency behind this test was that this kick-start enthuses future sample return as well as human missions.

ISRO while taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) shared this update and wrote, "Vikram soft-landed on Moon, again! Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment. On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away. Importance?: This 'kick-start' enthuses future sample return and human missions! All systems performed nominally and are healthy. Deployed Ramp, ChaSTE and ILSA were folded back and redeployed successfully after the experiment."

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
🇮🇳Vikram soft-landed on 🌖, again!

Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment.

On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away.… pic.twitter.com/T63t3MVUvI

— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023

India scripted history on August 23 when Chandrayaan-3 became the first spacecraft ever to successfully land on the southern pole of the moon. 

In 2019, Chandrayaan-2 had a rough landing on the moon but, Chandrayaan-3's soft, textbook touchdown led to a wave of celebration in the country.