On Monday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 mission had achieved a successful "soft landing" on the lunar surface once again. This accomplishment followed its initial landing on August 23 at the Moon's south pole. In an update shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), ISRO stated, "Chandrayaan-3 Mission Update: Vikram has successfully executed a soft lunar landing, once more! The Vikram Lander surpassed its mission objectives by completing a hop experiment as planned. On command, it activated its engines, elevating itself by approximately 40 cm as anticipated, and touched down safely within a range of 30 to 40 cm from its target." ISRO also elaborated on the significance of this achievement, noting, "Why is this important? This 'kick-start' paves the way for future sample return and human missions! All systems performed as expected and remain in good health. The Ramp, ChaSTE, and ILSA instruments were successfully folded back and redeployed after
