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Chandrayaan-3: Lander Vikram landed on the Moon today
New Delhi:
The lander Vikram of India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission has made it to the Moon, marking a historic day for India and the world. In the next few hours, the rover Pragyan will roll out from the lander to carry out is mission.
Here’s your 5-point cheatsheet to this big story
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Lander Vikram’s final touchdown speed was well within its safe limits. Four engines ran initially. Two of them were shut down later, so the touchdown on the lunar surface was powered by two engines.
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Lander Vikram kicked up a large cloud of Moon dust when it landed. The dust will not settle down anytime soon due to the extremely weak gravitational force the Moon exerts, but will scatter away on its own momentum.
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The rover Pragyan will emerge from the lander three-and-a-half hours after lander Vikram touched down on the lunar surface near the Moon’s South Pole. India is the first country to land a spacecraft near the lunar South Pole.
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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) did not want the fine Moon dust to coat the cameras and other sensitive instruments, so it decided to wait for over three hours to ensure the dust moves away from the lander Vikram.
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The rover Pragyan will first extend its solar arrays and roll out with a wire connected to the lander Vikram. The wire will be snapped once the rover is stable on the lunar surface. It will then start its scientific mission.
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