Chandrayaan-3 Lander Instrument Now A Location Marker At Lunar South Pole

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Friday that the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) instrument on the Chandrayaan-3 lander has commenced its role as a location marker near the lunar south pole. According to the statement from ISRO, the LRA is now serving as a fiducial point, providing precisely located markers for reference on the Moon. The United States’ NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) successfully utilized the LRA to achieve a laser range measurement by detecting signals reflected on December 12, 2023.

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Laser Ranging Using Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on LRO

The recent laser ranging operation involved the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). This observation took place during lunar nighttime, with the LRO positioned to the east of Chandrayaan-3, as stated by ISRO. The Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA), provided by NASA, was integrated into the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander through international collaboration. It consists of eight corner-cube retroreflectors arranged on a hemispherical support structure, enabling laser ranging from various directions for any orbiting spacecraft equipped with suitable instruments.

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