(Updated) ISRO's Vikram Lander successfully executes lunar hop; soft lands on the Moon again | Watch

Video Credit: Twitter (@isro)

The Indian Space Research Organisation's Chandrayaan-3 Vikram Lander underwent a hop experiment on Sunday, September 3, on the Moon. While the lander had already achieved a safe and soft landing on the Moon's South Pole late last month, this was an entirely different mission objective.

According to ISRO, after issuing the command, the Vikram Lander fired its engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm and landed safely at a distance of 30 - 40 cm away from its original landing point. The lander is healthy and its payloads, which were folded back for the experiment, were deployed again.

"All systems performed nominally and are healthy. Deployed Ramp, ChaSTE and ILSA were folded back and redeployed successfully after the experiment," ISRO said on Monday.

This successful hop experiment, as the agency says, will open up new possibilities for future lunar sample return and human missions to the Moon.

ISRO took to social media to share a video of Vikram Lander's hop experiment on the Moon.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:🇮🇳Vikram soft-landed on 🌖, 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.… pic.twitter.com/T63t3MVUvI

— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023

Update 1

Vikram Lander has been set into sleep mode and its payloads are now switched off. The lander will fall asleep next to the Pragyan rover once the solar power is exhausted and the battery is drained, ISRO said on Monday, adding that they will awake at the next sunrise, expected around September 22, 2023.

The rover was set into sleep mode on Saturday, September 2.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:Vikram Lander is set into sleep mode around 08:00 Hrs. IST today. Prior to that, in-situ experiments by ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA payloads are performed at the new location. The data collected is received at the Earth. Payloads are now switched off.… pic.twitter.com/vwOWLcbm6P

— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023