The India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed last week that scientists received no signal while trying to "establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan to ascertain their wake-up condition". While efforts are on to communicate with the rover and the lander, ISRO chief S Somanath said scientists "can wait the entire lunar day (14 Earth days) as there will be continuous sunlight throughout that period."
The temperature on the lunar surface drops to as low as -200 degrees Celsius when the sun sets there and the mercury starts rising after 14 days when the Sun stars hover over the horizon.
Scientists at the ISRO were expecting to revive the lander and the rover of the Chandrayaan-3 mission around September 22 after sunrise near the Moon's south pole. However, they failed to establish any contact. "Till now, there has been no signal, but I cannot say it will not come up," Somanath told the Times of India while hoping for some action in the next 14 days.
"As long as the temperature is increasing, there are chances of systems inside getting warmed up. So the systems could wake up even on the 14th day, there is no way to predict," the ISRO chief was quoted as saying. However, there is a possibility that the lander and the rover would remain unresponsive after completing 14 Earth days on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:Efforts have been made to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition.
As of now, no signals have been received from them.Efforts to establish contact will continue.— ISRO (@isro) September 22, 2023
Originally designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days), the ISRO is hoping they can be revived, now that the Sun has risen again on the Moon, and that they carry on with the experiments and studies there.
After landing on the Moon on August 23, both the lander and the rover, and the payloads onboard performed experiments one after the other so as to complete them within 14 Earth days (one lunar day), before pitch darkness and extreme cold weather engulfed the Moon.
Both the lander and the rover were put into sleep mode earlier this month on September 4 and 2 respectively, ahead of the lunar night setting in on Earth's only natural satellite. However, their receivers were kept on.
Check out our in-depth Market Coverage, Business News & get real-time Stock Market Updates on CNBC-TV18. Also, Watch our channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar Live on-the-go!
Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Check full list of AAP candidates and constituencies
May 18, 2024 12:59 PM
PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi election rallies in Delhi today: Here are the routes to avoid
May 18, 2024 11:28 AM