ISRO's Vikram lander does a hop on Moon before going to sleep

Ten days after its soft-landing near the moon’s south pole, the Chandrayaan-3 lander underwent an experimental elevation and descent on the lunar surface, on Sunday. Three payloads on the lander, Vikram, conducted in-situ experiments at the new location before the lander was set into sleep mode at around 8 am on Monday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

With the successful ‘hop experiment’, Vikram has exceeded its mission objectives. ISRO said the development offered insights for future missions with the objective to return with samples. It also released video footage of the lunar surface as captured by a lander camera during the experiment.

“On command, it (the lander) 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!” ISRO said on X.

The space agency said all systems performed nominally and are healthy.

Data collected from experiments at the new location by the lander payloads – ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA – is received at the earth. ISRO said the lander payloads have been switched off while the receivers are kept on. Vikram will fall asleep next to Pragyan, the rover, once the solar power is depleted and the battery is drained. ISRO hoped for their “awakening” at the next sunrise, expected around September 22.

Pragyan has already completed its assignments. It is parked and set into sleep mode with both its payloads – APXS and LIBS – turned off.