Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover reached a huge crater with a diameter of four metres on August 27, 2023. This crater was three metres ahead of Pragyan’s previous location. After a command to retrace its path, Pragyan is now heading safely on a new path, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a mission update on August 28.


The Pragyan rover rolled out of the Vikram lander on August 23, about four hours after Chandrayaan-3 made a historic touchdown on the lunar south pole. Chandrayaan-3 softly landed on the Moon's south pole on August 23, at 6:02 pm IST, making India the first country to softly land a spacecraft on the lunar south pole.






The Navigation Camera onboard the Pragyan rover has captured an image of the four-metre crater on the Moon.


 



Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover came across a crater of size four metres on August 27, 2023. The Navigation Camera onboard Pragyan has captured an image of this lunar crater. (Photo: X/@ISRO)


The camera has also captured an image of the path retraced by the Pragyan rover on August 27.


 



Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover retraced its path on August 27, and is now back on a safe path. (Photo: X/@ISRO)


Aditya-L1's Launch Date Announced


On August 28, ISRO announced the launch date and time of Aditya-L1, India's first space-based observatory to study the Sun.


Aditya-L1 will be launched on September 2, 2023, at 11:50 am IST, from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, atop an XL Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL). ISRO's solar mission will study the Sun for five years.


Chandrayaan-3 Produces First Temperature-Depth Profile Of Moon's South Pole


On August 27, 2023, ISRO released the first observations from the Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) payload on Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander. ChaSTE measured the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the Moon’s south pole. With the help of these observations, scientists will try to understand the thermal behaviour of the lunar surface. 


ChaSTE is equipped with a temperature probe which has the ability to penetrate into lunar soil up to a depth of 10 centimetres beneath the Moon’s surface. ChaSTE is also equipped with 10 individual temperature sensors. 


ISRO released a graph which shows the variation of lunar surface temperature with depth. ChaSTE’s temperature probe recorded the temperature variations of the lunar surface and near-surface at various depths. According to ISRO, this is the first temperature-depth profile of the Moon’s south pole.


ChaSTE will measure thermal properties, including temperature and thermal conductivity, of the lunar surface near the Moon’s south pole.