India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission lander successfully landed on the moon’s unexplored South Pole region, making India the fourth nation to successfully land on Earth’s lunar neighbor.
Small But Incredible: Chandrayaan-3 Mission Lander Leaves A Mark On The Lunar Surface|NASA
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured an image of the landing site of Chandrayaan-3 mission Vikram lander and its mark on the lunar surface.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission’s objective was to demonstrate a safe landing, following the crash of its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, in 2019.
The area where the Chandrayaan-3 mission lander touched down is of interest to scientists due to its potential water deposits, which could support human presence on the moon.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission’s robotic explorers, Vikram and Pragyan, have been put into sleep mode and may awaken around September 22.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission lander is the first craft to successfully land near the lunar south pole.
The photo taken by NASA’S LRO shows the shadow of Chandrayaan-3 mission lander surrounded by a bright halo caused by the rocket plume interacting with the soil.
The lunar South Pole where the Chandrayaan-3 mission lander landed is an important target for exploration due to its potential for water ice, which could support human outposts and supply propellant for space missions, according to Space.com.
Like the Chandrayaan-3 mission, NASA’s Artemis 3 mission also plans to land astronauts near the lunar South Pole in the coming years, Space.com added.
READ MORE|India’s Moon Lander Looks Tiny In Remarkable NASA Orbiter Snapshot
