• By Abhirupa Kundu
  • Thu, 31 Aug 2023 04:01 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND
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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has shared a video of Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover being rotated on the Moon's surface comparing it with a child "frolicking in the yards of Chandamama" (a term used in kid's rhymes to affectionately address the moon). The space agency informed that the rotation was captured by a Lander Imager Camera. 

The rotation was directed remotely from the command centre in Bengeluru to look for routes that avoid craters and rocks on the Lunar surface. 

 

The Pragyan rover and Vikram lander are racing to finish experiments before a lunar night sets in next week. A lunar night can last up to 14 Earth days. 

"The rover was rotated in search of a safe route. The rotation was captured by a Lander Imager Camera. It feels as though a child is playfully frolicking in the yards of Chandamama, while the mother watches affectionately. Isn't it?" ISRO wrote on "X", formerly Twitter. 

ISRO's adorable mother-child reference to inform the progress of Chandrayaan-3 mission caught the eyes of many.

Pragyan has confirmed the presence of sulphur in the lunar region by deploying a different technique, ISRO said on Thursday.

The space agency released a video showing an automated hinge mechanism rotating the 18 cm tall APXS, aligning the detector head to be approximately five centimetres in proximity to the lunar surface.

ISRO further said the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) has detected sulphur, as well as other minor elements on the Moon.

The 26-kg, six-wheeled, solar-powered Pragyan rover is equipped to use its scientific instruments to record what the lunar soil and rocks are made of in the south polar region where Chandrayaan-3 landed and it would also show how the readings contrast with that of the highland regions.