The Indian Space Research Organization said on September 22 that they have made attempts to communicate with the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover, but no signals have been received yet.
ISRO further said that it will continue efforts to contact Chandrayaan-3’s lander Vikram and rover Pragyan.
ISRO told will be continued.
Earlier on September 2, both lander Vikram and rover Pragyan were “safely parked” and put into sleep mode after the lunar night arrived. According to details, one day on the moon is equivalent to 14 days on Earth.
Sharing his concerns on Friday, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair shared a genuine concern ‘like checking something out of the freezer’.
Nair told news agency ANI: “Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover have been in deep sleep for almost two weeks now. It is almost like taking something out of the freezer and then trying to use it. The temperatures are said to have gone above -150 degrees Celsius. “
“At that temperature, the real concern is how the batteries, the electronics and the mechanism survive,” he added.
Noting that there is still hope: “Of course, adequate tests have been conducted on site to determine that it will work even after such a condition. Still, we have to keep our fingers crossed. The sun’s heat will warm the instruments and also the charger batteries. If both conditions are successfully met, there is a reasonable chance that the system will be operational again.”
“Once it is operational, it is entirely possible that we will be able to cover some more distance and collect more data on the moon’s surface near the moon’s south pole over the next fourteen days.”
India’s Vikram lander landed near the moon’s south pole on August 23, successfully completing one of the main objectives of the Chandrayaan-3 mission: a soft landing on the lunar surface.
With input from authorities.
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Updated: Sep 22, 2023 7:37 PM IST