ISRO is aiming for the “successful awakening” of the Pragyan Rover and Vikram Lander of Chandryaan-3 on September 22.
The Indian Space Research Organisation, or ISRO, has put the Vikram Lander of Chandrayaan-3 to sleep mode, a move to survive the chilly lunar night. This comes just days after the Indian space agency snuggled the Pragyan Rover of its third Moon mission into sleep.
“Vikram Lander is set into sleep mode around 08:00 Hrs. IST today,” ISRO wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Prior to that, in-situ experiments by ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA payloads are performed at the new location. The data collected is received at the Earth,” it said. The lander’s payloads have been switched off while its receivers remain operational.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
Vikram Lander is set into sleep mode around 08:00 Hrs. IST today.Prior to that, in-situ experiments by ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA payloads are performed at the new location. The data collected is received at the Earth.
Payloads are now switched off.… pic.twitter.com/vwOWLcbm6P— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023
Prior to going into hibernation, Vikram successfully underwent a ‘hop experiment.’ It exceeded the mission objectives and soft-landed on the Moon “again”. “On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away,” ISRO said in another post on X. Reports pointed out that the experiment came as a surprise as the space agency never revealed this plan earlier. While the jump is very small, ISRO says it “enthuses future sample return and human missions!”
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
????????Vikram soft-landed on ????, again!Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment.
On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away.… pic.twitter.com/T63t3MVUvI
— ISRO (@isro) September 4, 2023
Meanwhile, the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 will be put to sleep next to the rover module named Pragyan once the solar power is depleted and the battery is drained. Over the weekend, ISRO had put the rover to sleep for the same reason of conserving its energy and helping it survive the dark lunar night. Both the payloads on Pragyan, the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer and the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope, have been turned off and the data collected by them have been beamed back to Earth.
“The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode. APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off. Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander,” ISRO wrote on microblogging platform X on Saturday. ISRO is aiming for the “successful awakening” of the Pragyan Rover and Vikram Lander of Chandryaan-3 on September 22 for their next set of cosmic missions. However, if it does not wake up, Pragyan will forever stay on the Moon as “India’s lunar ambassador.”
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
The Rover completed its assignments.It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode.
APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off.
Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander.Currently, the battery is fully charged.
The solar panel is…— ISRO (@isro) September 2, 2023
Just to recap, Chandrayaan-3 is the third mission within the Chandrayaan program by ISRO, aimed at exploring the lunar south pole. Launched on July 14, it focuses on demonstrating safe landing and roving capabilities on the Moon’s surface. The mission includes the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, similar to those used in Chandrayaan-2, which successfully touched down at the lunar south pole on August 23. Notably, Chandrayaan-3’s rover detected the presence of elements like sulphur, oxygen, and more and expanded our understanding of this unexplored lunar area.
