ISRO’s Vikram Lander Achieves Successful Soft Landing on Moon and Passes Hop Test Again

Bengaluru, Sep 4 : ISRO announced on Monday that the Vikram lander had once again achieved a successful soft landing on the lunar surface, along with a hop test during the process. On command, the Vikram lander ignited its engines, elevating itself by approximately 40 cm as anticipated, and safely touched down about 30 to 40 cm away, according to an update from ISRO. ISRO emphasized that the Vikram lander not only met but exceeded its mission objectives, underscoring the significance of this achievement in inspiring future sample return and human missions. In a post, ISRO stated, “Vikram soft-landed on the moon, again! Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment. On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30-40 cm away.” The space agency also highlighted the importance of this milestone, explaining that it serves as a catalyst for future endeavors in sample return and human missions. ISRO reported that all systems performed as expected and remain in good health. Additionally, the Ramp, ChaSTE, and ILSA components were successfully deployed and retracted as part of the experiment. India made history on August 23 by achieving a soft landing with the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface. This accomplishment made India the fourth nation to touch down on the moon and the first to reach the moon’s south pole.