(VOVWORLD) - The moon rover of India’s Chandrayaan-3 exited the spacecraft on Thursday morning to begin its exploration of the lunar surface, the country’s space agency said on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
 People watch a live stream of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's landing on the moon, inside an auditorium of Gujarat Science City in Ahmedabad, India, August 23, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Amit Dave) |
The spacecraft landed on the unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday evening, days after Russia's Luna-25 failed, making India the first country to achieve that feat.
This was India’s second attempt to touch down on the moon. A previous mission in 2019, Chandrayaan-2, successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander crashed.
The moon's rugged south pole is coveted because of its water ice, which is believed to be capable of providing fuel, oxygen, and drinking water for future missions, but its rough terrain makes landing challenging.