India’s Pragyan rover makes first trip to the moon

The Indian lunar rover Pragyan, which arrived on the lunar surface on August 23, 2023 aboard the landing module of the interplanetary station Chandrayaan-3, moved off the module and “began moving on the surface of the moon,” the Indian Space Research Organization reports on its page in social network.

The launch of Chandrayaan-3, we recall, took place on July 14, 2023. “Chandrayana-3” is the third automatic interplanetary station of the Indian Space Research Organization.

Preparations for the release of the rover to the surface of the moon took some time due to the fact that the dust that rose during the landing of the lander had to settle, and this is not a quick process.

Lunokhod “Pragyan” will operate at least a lunar day – 14 Earth days. It is reported that he will explore the region of the lunar pole, which no one has done before (before that, various “lunar missions” organized in the past, explored mainly areas in the region of the lunar equator).