First ever photo of the Moon’s south pole released

History has been made

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) later shared an image taken by the moon lander's imaging camera just three hours after its initial touchdown.

The photo shows a seemingly flat region on the moon's surface with the craft's leg and a shadow visible in the corner.

ISRO also shared an additional four photographs taken by the lander's horizontal velocity camera, showing the rough surface of the Moon's south pole during the craft's descent.

Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar exploration mission under the ISRO programme, consists of a lander named Vikram and a rover known as Pragyan.

The lander, which has been in orbit for two weeks, finally touched down on the lunar south at 18:02 Indian Standard Time (13:32 British Summer Time) on Wednesday afternoon. The lander then released the rover which has been exploring the region since.

The technology onboard both the lander and the rover will study the south pole for one lunar day, which is the equivalent of two weeks here on Earth. Updates of the mission's progress will be shared by ISRO as and when they come about.

One small step for Vikram, one giant leap for mankind.

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