Chandrayaan-3: Vikram Lander, Pragyan Rover Not Responding So Far; Efforts Will Continue, Says ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation said Friday (22 September) that they have attempted to "establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition."

The efforts have borne no fruit as yet. "As of now, no signals have been received from them," the space agency said on X.

However, added ISRO, "Efforts to establish contact will continue."

Nilesh M Desai, Director of the Space Applications Centre, told news agency ANI that ISRO will try to wake Vikram and Pragyan up on Saturday.

"On 23 September, the plan again is to take the lander and rover out of sleep mode and reactivate them," Desai said.

The solar-powered Chandrayaan-3 modules were designed for a mission life of only one lunar day, equivalent to approximately 14 days on Earth.

Unfortunately, the electronics were not built to withstand the extreme cold temperatures on the Moon, which can drop below -200 degrees Celsius near the south pole, where Chandrayaan-3 is located.

Spacecraft designed to endure the lunar night typically have built-in heating systems. Russia's Luna-25, which failed to land on the Moon, had such a mechanism.

On the other hand, Chandrayaan-3 was not intended to survive beyond a single lunar day.

After completing its primary scientific objectives, ISRO decided to try to prolong the lifespan of the lander and rover. They shut down all instruments before sunset and put them in sleep mode.

The hope was that the fully charged batteries would provide enough warmth to keep the instruments functional throughout the night.

Riding on that hope, ISRO will keep trying to make contact with the Chandrayaan-3 modules.

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