Chandrayaan-3's Vikram Lander Payload Records Pragyan Rover's Movements, Detects A Natural Event

The ILSA payload, which is a first-of-its-kind instrument on the Moon, has recorded an event, which appears to be a natural occurrence.

Chandrayaan-3: The Vikram lander’s Instrument for the Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) payload has recorded vibrations occurring due to the movements of the Pragyan rover, and other instruments onboard the lander. The ILSA payload, which is a first-of-its-kind instrument on the Moon, has also recorded an event, which appears to be a natural occurrence, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a mission update. The vibrations were recorded on August 25, 2023, and the natural event was recorded on August 26.

ILSA is a first-of-its-kind instrument on the Moon. According to ISRO, ILSA is the first and only Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology-based instrument on the Moon. ILSA makes use of electric and mechanical technology to perform its operations on the Moon. 

ILSA is made up of six high-sensitivity accelerometers, whose function is to measure the vibration or acceleration of an object. These accelerometers were made in India. 

Inside the sensing element of ILSA lies a spring system equipped with comb-structured electrodes. When external vibrations occur, the spring gets deflected, and there is a change in capacitance, which refers to the ability of a material to store electric charge. This increase in capacitance is converted into voltage. 

The main function of ILSA is to measure ground vibrations produced by natural lunar quakes, lunar impacts, and artificial events. 

Apart from measuring seismicity around the landing site, ILSA will perform experiments to understand the difference between the lunar crust and mantle. 

ISRO has released two graphs which show the variations in the acceleration of the rover and instruments with time. 

 

Graph showing the variations of the Pragyan rover's acceleration with time, measured by the Vikram lander's ILSA payload (Photo: ISRO)

 

The graph shows the measurements of a natural event made by the Vikram lander's ILSA payload (Photo: X/@ISRO)

The Vikram lander's payloads will also measure how intense solar radiations have impacted the Moon's surface and altered it. All these activities will help scientists plan for future lunar missions. 

K Siddhartha, Earth Scientist at ISRO and a strategic thinker, told ABP Live that ILSA will detect and study lunar quakes, and the rumblings, if confirmed, will open up exciting possibilities for future exploration.