Chandrayaan-3's Vikram Lander Performing Hop Maneuver On Lunar Surface Was Totally Unplanned: ISRO official

ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 mission made historical successful landing on the south pole of Moon on August 23.

The Vikram lander along with the Pragyan rover conducted multiple experiments in 14 Earth days or one lunar day, which was previously planned.

The unplanned Hop experiment:

The hop experiment by lander came as a surprise to all. During this hop experiment, the Vikram lander fired its engines on command, elevated itself by approximately 40 centimetres, and landed 30-40 centimetres away at a distance from its original landing spot or Shiv Shakti Point, as confirmed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Chandrayaan-3 Project Director P Veeramuthuvel recently mentioned: "The Vikram lander performing a hop experiment on the Moon was unplanned and exceeded its mission objectives."

(Credit - @ISRO Twitter Page)

Importance of hop experiment:

This hop experiment has demonstrated lander's ability to navigate and manoeuvre in lunar environment. The basic agenda of hop experiment is to check another soft landing on lunar surface. That's why, with controlled signal, the lander uplifted itself and landed again. Scientists are hopeful that successful hop experiment may help future missions such a way that can return collected samples from the lunar surface to earth. This successful experiment may open up new opportunities for human missions to the Moon.

"The successful completion of the hop experiment by the Vikram lander not only demonstrates the spacecraft’s technical capabilities and reliability, but also provides inspiration and enthusiasm for future lunar exploration missions," added Girish Linganna, a space and aerospace expert.

Can Vikram lander be reactivated soon?

After completion of initial tasks, the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover were put into sleep mode on September 2, 2023. Meanwhile, scientists in ISRO made multiple attempts in hopes that the lander and the rover could have survived the previous lunar night cycle. However, there has been no response from them as of now. The Sunlight began receding on the landing site or Shiv Shakti Point on September 30.

Nilesh M Desai, director, ISRO’s Space Applications Centre, said, "Earlier we planned to reactivate the Pragyan rover and Vikram lander on the evening of September 22, but due to some reasons we did it on September 23. We have a plan to take out the lander and rover from the sleep-mode and reactivate it."

"Our scientific objective is completely met, and in fact, it exceeded our expectations and this is why we are all very happy. Our director of URSC and chairman ISRO and all centre directors who have been guiding us are very satisfied," Veeramuthuvel said in the recent interview.