Lander 'Vikram' touched down within the area identified on lunar surface, says ISRO Chairman

Bengaluru: ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Thursday said the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's lander 'Vikram' touched down on the Moon's surface well within the area identified for the purpose.

Speaking to PTI, Somanath said, "(The lander landed) perfectly in the intended site. The landing location was marked as 4.5 km x 2.5 km -- I think on that space, and the exact centre of that was identified as the location of landing. It landed within 300 metres of that point. That means it is well within the area identified for landing."

India on Wednesday scripted history as ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.

The LM comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan) made the soft landing near the south polar region of the Moon last evening.

Earlier today, ISRO announced that the rover rolled down from the lander, stating "India took a walk on the moon." The ISRO chief, in response to a question, said the rover movement is happening now, and is working "very well".

He said there are two instruments in the rover and three instruments on board the lander, and all of them have been switched on sequentially.

"They will study basically the mineral composition of the moon, as well as the atmosphere of the Moon and the seismic activities there," he added.