Chandrayaan-3: 26kg rover Pragyaan takes a walk on the Moon

News Network

August 24, 2023

A day after the landing module of Chandrayaan-3 touched down near the Moon’s south pole, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has confirmed that the rover, Pragyan, is out on the lunar surface.

“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!” Isro said on Thursday. The lander and rover have a mission life of one lunar day or 14 earth days.

The 26-kg rover – launched inside the 1,752-kg landing module – will now move around the lunar surface to conduct scientific experiments with its two payloads.

The Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) will analyse the lunar surface and derive its chemical and mineralogical composition while the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) is designed to determine the elemental composition (magnesium, aluminium, silicon, potassium, calcium, titanium, and iron) of the lunar soil and rocks around the 4 km x 2.4 km landing site.

The rover’s sole link of communication is with the lander, Vikram. The landing module communicates with the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) and the rover, while the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter has established a connection with the lander. The propulsion module which was separated from the landing module on August 17 is also communicating with the IDSN.

The four payloads on Vikram will measure parameters including the surface plasma density, thermal properties, and seismicity around the landing site. Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE), launched on the propulsion module, is aimed at probing into a variety of exoplanets for potential habitability.

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Manipur CM is mastermind behind violence; Centre lied in Supreme Court: Kuki MLAs

News Network

November 11,2024

The Manipur Kuki MLAs have released a statement calling out Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's 'lies' in the Supreme Court. In a joint statement, the MLAs, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said they had not had any meeting with the Chief Minister since May 3, 2023, nor did they intend to meet him in the future as “he was the mastermind behind the violence”.

As per the MLAs, the SG lied about state CM N Biren Singh speaking to Kuki MLAs to control the situation there, in order to halt a Supreme Court probe into the leaked tapes which allege that Singh has been complicit in the violence that broke out between Kukis and Meitis there.

"We...clarify that we have never had any meeting with Chief Minister, Shri N. Biren Singh since May 3, 2023, nor have any intention to meet him in future as he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley, which is continuing till today, the latest being the brutal killing and burning of Mrs Zosangkim Hmar on November 7, 2024," the letter read, while condemning the recent 'barbaric' killing of the woman there, and noting the SG's assertion is 'tantamount' to misleading the top court.

“We, the undersigned ten MLAs, have come to know that during the Supreme Court hearing held on November 8, 2024, the Solicitor General of India submitted that ‘CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the situation down to get peace’. In this connection, we hereby categorically state that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition by a Kuki organisation, asked that it submit audio tapes to substantiate its claim that the Chief Minister was instrumental in inciting and organising violence in the northeastern State.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta orally informed the court that the Chief Minister was meeting all the Kuki-Zo MLAs and that peace in the State had come at a huge cost.

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