India lunar rover sends first photo of Moon surface to Earth

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced that the Pragyan rover, which is part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and successfully landed on the lunar south pole on Wednesday, is already travelling there and has sent the first image of the Moon's surface to Earth.

"The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon!" ISRO stated on X—formerly Twitter.

Also, it released the first photo taken by the lunar rover.

The image taken by the camera after landing shows part of the Chandrayaan-3 landing site. The leg of the apparatus and the accompanying shadow are also visible. Chandrayaan-3 chose a relatively flat area of the lunar surface, explained ISRO.

The Pragyan rover, which weighs 26 kg, will operate on the surface of Earth's natural satellite for one lunar day (14 Earth days).

With the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 station on the Moon, India has become the fourth country, the device made by which is able to make a soft landing on the surface of the Moon. So far, the ex-USSR, USA, and China had done it.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk III rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota island. In addition to making a soft landing, it aims to explore the lunar surface and collect scientific data.