New Delhi, India

The Indian space agency on Thursday (August 31st) released a new video of Chandrayaan-3's rover 'Pragyan' being rotated on the lunar surface.

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Pragyan was rotated remotely from the command centre in India's Bengaluru. This was done in search of a route that avoids craters and rocks on the moon's surface.

Chandamama

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said: "The rover was rotated in search of a safe route. The rotation was captured by a Lander Imager Camera."

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Also read | Smile, please! Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan Rover shares first image of Vikram Lander on lunar surface

Comparing the sight with that of a frolicking child, the Indian space agency said: "It feels as though a child is playfully frolicking in the yards of Chandamama, while the mother watches affectionately. Isn't it?"

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The latest update on India's moon mission comes just a day after ISRO announced that the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer of Pragyan — which means "wisdom" in Sanskrit — has discovered the presence of minor elements, including Sulphur, apart from the expected elements such as Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron.

Chandrayaan-3 mission

Chandrayaan-3 mission has made the India the first nation to land a spacecraft on the unexplored South Pole of the moon and just the fourth nation to land on Earth's lunar satellite. The Wednesday (August 23) landing came just days after Russia's Luna-25 failed in a similar mission.

Also read | ISRO completes rehearsal of Sun mission Aditya-L1’s Saturday launch

The soft, textbook landing of the lander, following an unsuccessful attempt in 2019 — that failed during final descent, was met with immense joy and celebration in the world's most populous nation. India's media widely acclaimed this historic achievement as India's greatest scientific accomplishment.

The rover and Vikram, the lander that transported Pragyan to the Moon, are rushing to complete their experiments before the upcoming lunar night, which spans 14 Earth days and is expected to commence next week. Over the period of its two-week lifespan, rover Pragyan will amble around the relatively unmapped South Pole and transmit images and scientific data to Earth.

(With inputs from agencies)

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