Chandrayaan-3: Pragyan rover could not be contacted till now! Is Mission Chandrayaan completed, what will happen next?
India's lander Vikram and rover Pragyan, which landed on the south pole of the Moon, have not been contacted again.
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India's lander Vikram and rover Pragyan, which landed on the south pole of the Moon, have not been contacted again. After which it is being said that this ambitious space mission of India has been completed here. Earlier, on September 3, 2023, the most important part of the mission, Pragyan Rover had fallen into deep sleep. The next day, on September 4, Vikram Lander went into sleep mode. Earlier, ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA payloads had conducted in-situ experiments at the new location. The agency had then further stated that the payloads had been discontinued. The lander receivers were kept on. Once the solar power and battery are exhausted, Vikram will sleep next to Pragyan. Then ISRO had said that he is expected to wake up around September 22. However, this did not happen as per the agency's forecasts.
What does it mean to go into sleep mode, will the rover work again now?
Earlier, during the beginning of the sleep mode process, the space agency had said that at present the battery is fully charged. The solar panels wait to capture light at the next expected sunrise on September 22. Besides, the receiver has also been kept on. The agency also said the rover is expected to stay awake for a second set of assignments. Meanwhile, ISRO had also informed about the next step in case Chandrayaan-3 rover 'Pragyan' does not wake up. ISRO had said that if such a situation arises, it will remain there forever as a messenger sent by India to the Moon.
Let us tell you that the lander and rover were designed to work for 14 days on our Earth i.e. one day on the Moon. However, both of them went into sleep mode on the 12th day itself. In his short life on the Moon, Pragyan had completed a journey of more than 100 meters by September 2.
What is Chandrayaan-3 mission?
Chandrayaan-3 mission is the next phase of Chandrayaan-2, which landed on the surface of the Moon and conducted scientific experiments. The mission took off from Sriharikota base at 2:35 pm on July 14 and landed on the Moon on August 23 as planned. With this mission, India became the fourth country in the world to make a soft landing on the Moon after America, Russia and China. With this, India became the first country to land on the south pole of the Moon.