India's moon rover did a 'Michael Jackson act' on the lunar surface after walking down on the ramp!
Well it moon walked after slowly rolling down on the moon lander's ramp, said the Indian space agency.
Moon walk is a dance move that became very popular after Michael Jackson did that during the performance of Bille Jean on 'Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever'.
The lander - part of the Chanrayaan-3 spacecraft- had landed safely near the moon’s south pole on Wednesday in a text book style.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said: "Chandrayaan-3 ROVER: Made in India Made for the MOON! The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon!"
While the rover did its moon walk on Thursday, ISRO released the much awaited video on Friday.
On the video, taken by the camera on the lander - India's first lunar selfie- the rover with its solar panel deployed can be seen slowly going down the ramp, touching the moon soil and moving forward.
One can also see the rover's wheel imprint on the lunar soil as well as the shadow of the rover with solar panel.
ISRO posted: "Lander Module payloads ILSA, RAMBHA and ChaSTE are turned ON today (Thursday). Rover mobility operations have commenced. All activities are on schedule. All systems are normal."
According to the space agency, on Sunday, the propulsion module payload SHAPE was turned on..
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft comprises a propulsion module (weighing 2,148 kg), a lander (1,723.89 kg) and a rover (26 kg).
With the landing, a major portion of the Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission has been realised.
The remaining portion is the moon rover rolling down from the lander, moving around and doing the programmed experiments.
According to ISRO, the moon rover has Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving the elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site.
On its part, the lander too will carry out the tasks assigned to it with its payloads: Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) to measure the thermal conductivity and temperature; Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) for measuring the seismicity around the landing site; RAMBHA Langmuir Probe (LP) to estimate the plasma density and its variations. A passive Laser Retroreflector Array from NASA is accommodated for lunar laser ranging studies.
The mission life of the lander and the rover is 1 Lunar day or 14 Earth days, ISRO said
"The rover rolled down onto the moon surface from the lander sometime around 12.30 a.m. Thursday. It is moving around. It is leaving its imprint on the moon's surface," Dr S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) told IANS.
The logo of ISRO and the national emblem have been engraved on the wheels of the rover to leave the imprint when it moves around.
Unnikrishnan said the rover will collect samples of the moon and do the experiments and send the data to the lander.
HM Shah stresses on mapping of demographic data of people along India-Myanmar border
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the demographic data of people along the India-Myanmar border, especially in Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, should be mapped so that it can help in fencing of the border and infiltration can be stopped.
Drugs worth Rs 78 crore seized in Tripura, one held
In a major haul, the Assam Rifles in coordination with the other law enforcing agencies on Saturday seized 3.9 lakh methamphetamine tablets valued at around Rs 78 crore and arrested a drug peddler in Tripura, officials said on Saturday.
Manipur: Arms and ammunition recovered; two held with drugs
Manipur Police and other security forces recovered some arms and ammunition from different fringe and vulnerable areas and arrested two persons with drugs on Saturday, officials said.
New Maha Cabinet: Fadnavis keeps Home, Shinde gets Urban Development, Ajit Pawar in charge of Finance
Finally, the wait is over. Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Saturday approved the portfolio allocation to the ministers as recommended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The list was released after the conclusion of a weeklong winter session.
Explained: Key recommendations of 55th GST Council meet
From reducing GST rate on fortified rice kernel (FRK) to fully exempt GST on gene therapy, the 55th GST Council meeting, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Saturday made some key recommendations to provide relief to individuals and businesses.
India a natural trade and commerce partner of Kuwait: PM Modi
India has been a natural trading partner of Kuwait and continues to be so in contemporary times and people-to-people linkages over centuries have fostered a special bond of friendship between the two countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar brings peace through meditation to UN headquarters consumed by global turmoil
Eighteen minutes of tranquility descended on the world organisation’s headquarters consumed by global turmoil as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar led a meditation session as a path to peace at the United Nations.
NE not just strategically important but also an epitome of nation's diversity, culture: Minister
Union Minister of State for DoNER Sukanta Majumdar on Friday underscored the strategic importance of the northeastern region and said that the region is not just a geographically significant part of the country but it is also an epitome of the nation's diversity, culture, and strategic importance.