Chandrayaan-3, the propulsion spacecraft, is soaring high above the Moon, and here's what it's up to. Chandrayaan-3 is India's third mission to explore the Moon. It was sent into space by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 23. The mission's main goal was to safely land the Vikram Lander and the Pragyan Rover, which it was carrying, on to the Moon's surface. Only three countries have accomplished this feat so far. This mission follows the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which unfortunately failed to land softly on the Moon nearly four years ago in September 2019. However, the spacecraft is still orbiting the Moon.
Recently, some exciting new pictures of Chandrayaan-3 have been shared. ISRO released these images on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, September 9. However, right now, the Chandrayaan-3 lander is not active. It's because the part of the Moon where the mission landed is in darkness for two weeks, which means all the equipment that relies on sunlight is in sleep mode.
When the Sun's rays return, Chandrayaan-3's lander and its small rover Pragyan may wake up from their nap. According to ISRO officials, these two have already achieved most of their main objectives. Pragyan, the rover, successfully rolled out from its lander, Vikram, and even took some pictures of the Moon's surroundings.
This is not the first time that an Indian mission to the Moon has been captured from space. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a spacecraft that takes high-definition images while orbiting the Moon, also spotted Chandrayaan-3 earlier this month.
The Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module, used to transport Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, has not retired after its mission. It is in orbit around the Moon and
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