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PremiumChandrayaan-3 Highlights: All eyes on Chandrayaan-3, as ISRO attempts to revive 'Vikram lander and Pragyan rover today. With dawn breaking on the Moon, ISRO is now gearing up to try to reestablish communication with its lunar mission Chandrayaan-3's solar-powered lander Vikram and rover Pragyan, to revive them so that they can continue with scientific experiments. 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.
The major challenge for ‘Pragyan and Vikram’ would be to come back in action after surviving the chilling -200 degree Celsius of temperature. If the onboard instruments survive the low temperature on the Moon, the modules can come back to life and continue their mission to send information from the moon for next fourteen days. If things go as per the plan, the rover will start moving after the commands will be fed into the rover. Later, the same procedure will be repeated on the lander module.
Will Vikram lander, Pragyan rover wake up as ISRO to try reactivation today? Check latest updates here
The Vikram Lander and the Pragyan rover performed different set tasks on the lunar surface after landing. This included finding the presence of sulphur and recording relative temperature. Pragyan travelled over 100 m (330 feet), confirming the presence of sulphur, iron, oxygen and other elements on the moon.
“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 tweeted.
Read more: Chandrayaan-3: No signals received from lander Vikram, rover Pragyan; ISRO says efforts underway
After conducting experiments on the moon from August 23 to September 4, the rover and lander modules of Chandrayaan-3 were put to sleep in a bid to survive the extremely frigid atmosphere at the south pole of the moon.
ISRO said that it will continue to make attempts to establish contact with Chandrayaan-3's lander Vikram and rover Pragyan.
The Vikram lander aboard Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down at the uncharted lunar South Pole on August 23 after a 40-day journey through space. The Pragyan Rover was safely parked and set into sleep mode on September 2 after transversing over 100 meters on the lunar surface from the Shiv Shakti Point.
“We had a plan to move the rover to almost 300-350 metres. But due to some reasons...the rover has moved 105 metres there," officials said on Friday.
Former ISRO scientist Tapan Mishra said that confirming the presence of water is the next important thing.
“There was a lesser induced spectroscopy instrument. It has shown us all the expected metals there. It has also shown us the presence of oxygen there, but we are looking for water. The oxygen can come from the breaking of any other silicon material which is actually the basis of all the rocks anywhere in the universe, also it can come from the breaking up of water. But if we could detect hydrogen there, detecting the presence of hydrogen would conclusively prove that there is water because hydrogen is never part of any other compound. So in that case we will be able to conclusively prove that there is water there. We have remote sensing-wise shown the presence of water. Now physically also we will able to show," he added.
"Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover have been in deep sleep for almost two weeks now. It is almost like taking out something from the freezer and then trying to use it. The temperatures would have gone beyond -150 degrees Celsius," ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair told ANI.
“The solar heat will warm up the instruments and also recharge the batteries. If both these conditions are successfully met, there is a fairly good chance that the system will be operational again."
“...Earlier we planned to reactivate the (Pragyan) rover and (Vikram) lander on the evening of 22nd September, but due to some reasons we will now do it tomorrow on 23rd September. We have a plan to take out the lander and rover from the sleep mode and reactivate it...We had a plan to move the rover to almost 300-350 metres. But due to some reasons...the rover has moved 105 metres there," said Director of Space Applications Centre, Nilesh Desai.
Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha on Thursday accused the BJP of politicising the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and said the government should increase budgetary allocation for promoting research and development in science and technology.
Congress MP Dean Kuriakose alleged that the BJP was politicising the success of the third moon mission by claiming that everything has been done after 2014. It was Jawaharlal Nehru who coined the term 'scientific temper' which is now used the world over, he claimed and demanded that there should be a mini science museum and science centre in all Lok Sabha constituencies.
Pointing out that governance is a continuous process, Danish Ali of the BSP expressed surprise that both sides tried to politicise this issue during the debate. This mission has been successful due to the work done by the previous governments and this government, he said.
Ali expressed disappointment over the "cut" in the budgetary allocation for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and said it has been reduced by 8 per cent this year despite the success achieved by the organisation.
Ahead of the second phase of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission, former Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO chief K Sivan expressed optimism and said that the success of the wakeup call regarding the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover is something which "we have to wait and see".
Speaking to ANI on the second phase of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission, the Ex-ISRO chief said, "The success of the wake-up call is something we will have to wait and see. Now the lunar day starts soon, so they will try to wake up soon. All the systems are functioning, it will be alright."
"It all depends on the system, there are mechanical systems, solar panels, batteries all these do not have a problem. However, the minute electric components like transmitters and receivers, whether they survive the cold temperature that we will have to see. If they survive, then definitely we will be able to wake them up," Sivan added.
August 23: Vikram lander made a historic soft soft landing on the Moon's south pole.
August 24: Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon
August 27: The first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander
August 28: LIBS confirms the presence of Sulphur (S) on the lunar surface through unambiguous in-situ measurements.
August 30: APXS on-board Ch-3 rover detects the presence of minor elements
August 31: ILSA listens to the movements around the landing site. RAMBHA-LP on-board Chandrayaan-3 measures near-surface plasma content
September 2 and 4: 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
Former ISRO scientist Tapan Mishra said that even if the rover fails to revive and the lander works, it will be a miracle. While speaking to ANI, he said, “Originally the Chandrayaan lander rover was designed for only 14 days of operation. It is expected that the temperature will go down to -140 degrees Celsius or lower, in the Southern pole it can reach down to -200 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, no plastic material, no carbon power material or no electronics can survive. They will crack. But I'm hopeful that ISRO must have done a lot of thermal management thing."
Mishra further asserted that if it survives one night then it will survive many more lunar nights. “And if it happens, then we will be in a league that can operate the lunar lander, rover, even throughout the year. If it survives one lunar night, I'm sure it will survive many more lunar nights and it may probably operate from 6 months to one year. That will be a great thing," he said.
The lander and rover -- with a total mass of 1,752 kg -- were designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days) to study the surroundings there.
ISRO's Space Applications Centre Director Nilesh Desai told News agency PTI "If our luck is good, we will have revival of both lander and rover and we will get some more experimental data, which will be useful for us to further do investigation of the Moon's surface. We are eagerly waiting for activity from September 22 onwards. We hope that we are lucky enough to revive both lander and rover and get some more useful data," he said, adding that whatever data they get hereon would be a bonus.
As of now, Chandrayaan-3's lander is positioned at Shiv Shakti Point, awaiting the sunrise and reactivation. Before putting them to sleep, the lander and rover conducted experiments to explore the lunar atmosphere and surface properties for the intended 14 Earth days.
Chandrayaan-3 LIVE Updates: High-Energy electrons from planet Earth might be forming water on its satellite Moon, a team of scientists have analysed based on data collected by the successful Chandrayaan-3' s predecessor Chandrayaan-1. The team led by researchers from the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa in the US discovered that these electrons in Earth's plasma sheet are contributing to weathering processes -- breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals -- on the Moon's surface. Read more here
As the second phase of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission is about to begin with Pragyan Rover and Vikram lander awakening, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair shared a genuine concern ‘seems like checking something from 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 checking out something from the freezer and then trying to use it. The temperatures would have gone beyond -150 degrees Celsius. Read more here
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Ahmedabad is set to play a pivotal role in India's Gaganyaan mission, which aims to send astronauts into space. While the rocket itself will be constructed elsewhere, all internal systems for Gaganyaan will be developed in Ahmedabad. ISRO's Ahmedabad facility will be responsible for building two critical systems for the Gaganyaan mission- the cabin systems and communication systems.
As the second phase of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission is about to begin with Pragyan Rover and Vikram lander awakening, Former ISRO Chairman K Sivan said, on "We have to wait and see. It has undergone a lunar night. Now the lunar day starts. So, now they will try to wake up. If all the systems are functioning, it will be alright...This is not the end, a lot more new Sciences will come. Even now the Chandrayaan-1's data has brought in a lot of discoveries. So, I hope that a lot of new things will come. Scientists will keep trying. So, this is not the end of the story..."
August 23: Vikram lander made a historic soft soft landing on the Moon's south pole.
August 24: Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon
August 27: The first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander
August 28: LIBS confirms the presence of Sulphur (S) on the lunar surface through unambiguous in-situ measurements.
August 30: APXS on-board Ch-3 rover detects the presence of minor elements
August 31: ILSA listens to the movements around the landing site. RAMBHA-LP on-board Chandrayaan-3 measures near-surface plasma content
September 2 and 4: 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
While speaking to news agency ANI, Former ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said, “Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover have been in deep sleep for almost two weeks now. It is almost like checking out something from the freezer and then trying to use it. The temperatures would have gone beyond -150 degrees Celsius. At that temperature how the batteries, electronics and the mechanism survive is really a concern. Of course, adequate tests have been done on the ground to establish that it will work even after such a condition. Still, we have to keep our fingers crossed. The solar heat will warm up the instruments and also the charger batteries. If both these conditions are successfully met, it is a fairly good chance that the system will be operational again. Once it is operational, it is quite possible that we can move around for some more distance over the next 14 days and collect more data on the surface of the moon near the lunar south pole."
On 9 September, The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter which was already around the Moon captured an image of the Chandrayaan-3 lander that made a successful lunar soft landing on its South Pole. “Chandrayaan-3 lander is imaged by the Dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter on September 6, 2023," ISRO said.
India on August 23 scripted history as ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat and the first to reach the uncharted south pole.
Here are the list of findings made on the Moon's surface so far:
Taking up a discussion regarding the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and other achievements of the nation in the space sector, chairing the Session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla congratulated the Nation on this stupendous achievement of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Birla observed that these achievements have made every Indian proud and the nation’s stature has increased at the global level.
Mentioning the historic day of August 23, 2023, Birla lauded the fact that India achieved a historic feat on that day by becoming the first country to land near the South Pole of the Moon.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday praised ISRO woman scientist, Ritu Karidhal, saying that the "Rocket Woman" from Lucknow played a significant role in the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Dr Ritu Karidhal Srivastava was born and brought up in Lucknow and is a trained Aerospace Engineer. As a scientist, she works with the Indian Space Research Organisation where she was the Deputy Operations Director for India's Mars Orbital Mission, Mangalyaan, which created history by becoming the first mission to reach Mars successfully in its first attempt. For her deep involvement in space sciences, Dr. Karidhal is fondly referred to as India's "Rocket Woman".
The major challenge for ‘Pragyan and Vikram’ would be to come back in action after surviving the chilling -200 degree Celsius of temperature. If the onboard instruments survive the low temperature on the Moon, the modules can come back to life and continue their mission to send information from the moon for next fourteen days.
If things go as per the plan, the rover will start moving after the commands will be fed into the rover. Later, the same procedure will be repeated on the lander module
The Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover of Chandrayaan-3 are expected to awake on Friday (September 22). Bhubaneswar-based space scientist Suvendu Patnayak has said, “The Chandrayaan-3 landed successfully and it worked for almost 14 days. It was designed to work for 14 days (on the moon). Its life period was only 14 days because the moon's temperature falls down to (-) 250 degrees during the (lunar) nighttime. So it worked during the sun hours or daytime and during that it had already given all the data (it was supposed to)."
“It is very difficult for few electronic components to work in such a huge range of temperature. So it was expected it would not work after 14 days…But a few scientists are very hopeful that it may work again. So if it works again, it will be a boon for us and we will perform the same experiments again and again," Patnayak added as quoted by ANI.
After putting the rover into sleep mode, ISRO had said, "The rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into sleep mode. APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off... Currently, the battery is fully charged. The solar panel is oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023." "The receiver is kept on. Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments! Else, it will forever stay there as India's lunar ambassador," the country's space agency had said in a post on X.
If ISRO is able to revive them, the information that is derived from experiments that could once again be conducted by the Chandrayaan-3 payloads would be a "bonus". The major challenge for ‘Vikram and Pragyan’ would be to come back in action after surviving the chilling -200 degree Celsius of temperature. If the onboard instruments survive the low temperature on the Moon, the modules can come back to life and continue their mission to send information from the moon for next fourteen days.
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.
As the Sun is set to rise on the Moon for next fifteen days, ISRO scientists are working day and night to revive the Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander and Pragyan rover after a 15-day-long slumber. The scientists will try to perform ‘reboot’ of the modules on Thursday and Friday. This will help in boosting the chances of extension over and above what has already been an entirely successfully complete mission. Read more here
Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh on Thursday informed that the second phase of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission is about to begin in the next few hours adding that Pragyan Rover and Vikram lander are awaiting and will wakeup after facing sunrays.
Addressing Lok Sabha on Day 4 of the Parliament Special session, Jitendra Singh said," After a few hours when Moon will face the Sun, our Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover will wake up. We have arranged solar batteries and panels have been set in such a direction that when Vikram faces sunrays a communication circuit will get activated. Both Vikram and Pragyan are awaiting a wake-up call."
"When the country will be celebrating the passage of Women Reservation Bill tomorrow, India will also become the first country where a rover and lander will sleep and wake up on the south pole of the Moon," he added.
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