The lander and rover
The ISRO mission comprised the Vikram lander, the Pragyan rover and a propulsion module. After landing, Pragyan left the lander and explored the surrounding area. The site is in the south polar region; it is not at the geographic pole.
The data collected
According to ISRO, the rover travelled about 101 metres. Mission instruments gathered data on surface properties, elemental composition, the plasma environment and seismic activity. In 2024 the agency released the scientific data.
Earlier missions
Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 contributed to India’s lunar exploration. Chandrayaan-2’s lander descent in 2019 was unsuccessful; Chandrayaan-3 demonstrated a soft landing and rover operations in its chosen region.