Watch: This is how moon looked like prior to landing of Chandrayaan-3
In the first video, posted on X (formerly Twitter) earlier in the day, the rover can be seen slowly sliding down a ramp from the lander’s belly and onto the lunar surace.Another video posted a few hours later showed the ramp opening up for the rover to slide down.
Explaining how the rover exited the lander, Isro said that a two-segment ramp facilitated the roll-down of the rover.
“A solar panel enabled the rover to generate power,” it said.
“Here is how the rapid deployment of the ramp and solar panel took place, prior to the rolldown of the rover,” the space agency tweeted, along with the video.
ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 Live updates: ISRO shares first video of Rover ramping down on Moon’s surface
It said that the 26 deployment mechanisms for the mission were developed at the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bengaluru.
Isro chairman S Somanath confirmed to TOI that the rover had begun to move on Thursday after its batteries were charged. The rover’s movement will be restricted to be within the observational area. Both Vikram and Pragyan are designed to function for one lunar day (14 Earth days).
Watch Watch: How the Chandrayaan-3 rover ramped down from lander for its moonwalk
