No sign of Chandrayaan-3 as India searches for sleeping moon mission
The Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, which together make up India’s Chandrayaan-3 moon mission, went to sleep two weeks ago to survive the freezing lunar night
By Matthew Sparkes
22 September 2023
The Vikram lander on the surface of the moon, as seen by the Pragyan rover
ISRO
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is scanning for signals from its Chandrayaan-3 mission to the surface of the moon, but so far there have been no signs of the Vikram lander or Pragyan rover waking up from the harsh, two-week-long lunar night. If attempts are unsuccessful, then the hardware has probably succumbed to the moon’s freezing conditions.
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“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 on 22 September.
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The agency launched Chandrayaan-3 in July, with Vikram touching down on the surface on 23 August before releasing the Pragyan rover, which successfully covered around 100 metres on the surface.
Both devices carried out their scientific experiments successfully and Vikram even performed a “hop” manoeuvre, taking off to an altitude of 40 centimetres, moving laterally around the same distance and landing once again. This test was designed to give ISRO engineers valuable data for future landings.
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India's moon craft enter sleep mode and await freezing lunar night
