Chandrayaan-3 Update: ISRO postpones Vikram Lander, Pragyan Rover resurrection

It seems that the people of India will have to wait one more day to find out if the Vikram Lander and the Pragyan Rover can be brought back to life.

ISRO has announced that they will not be attempting to revive the lander and rover of the Chandrayaan 3 mission today, and will instead, try to attempt a resurrection after a day.

Nilesh Desai, the Director of the Space Applications Centre, has announced a slight delay in the reactivation of the Pragyan rover and Vikram lander. Originally, the plan was to reactivate them on the evening of September 22, but due to certain reasons, this reactivation will now take place on September 23.

These two components of the mission, the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover, had initially made a successful landing on the moon’s surface on August 23. This landing occurred at a designated location now referred to as ‘Shiv Shakti Point.’

After performing various experiments on the lunar surface, both the rover and lander were put into a state of sleep earlier this month. The rover entered sleep mode on September 2, followed by the lander on September 4.

During their operational phase, both the Vikram Lander and the Pragyan rover conducted a series of lunar experiments. The Pragyan rover, in particular, covered a distance of more than 100 meters on the lunar surface, providing confirmation of the presence of sulfur (S) in the lunar surface near the south pole.

Simultaneously, the Vikram lander made pioneering measurements of the lunar plasma environment in the near-surface region over the south polar area.

Initially, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had planned for the rover to traverse a distance of 300-350 meters. However, due to certain circumstances or challenges, the rover has thus far covered a distance of only 105 meters.

Nevertheless, the mission has surpassed its objectives, with the Vikram lander successfully completing a hop test on the moon, a significant milestone with implications for future lunar missions and human exploration.

Before being placed in a state of dormancy, the mission ensured that the solar panels were oriented to capture the first light at dawn, and the batteries, powered by sunlight, were fully charged.

If the spacecraft components respond and recharge as planned, the mission will be granted an extended lease of life. This extension will enable scientists to gather additional samples and continue their exploration of the lunar surface, further enriching our understanding of the moon.

Timeline of the Chandryaan-3 missions

14 July: ISRO successfully launches the Chandrayaan-3 mission to its Earth orbit
31 July: Chandrayaan-3 is finally pushed towards the moon after a number of orbits around the earth.
5 August: ISRO places Chandrayaan-3 in an orbit around the Moon
17 August: Vikram Lander Module separates from Chandrayaan-3’s propulsion unit
18 August: Vikram Lander starts deorbiting on its final journey to the moon.
23 August: ISRO creates history, Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander soft lands on the lunar South Pole. Pragyan rover gets deployed.
6 August: ISRO declares that all three major objectives of the Chandrayaan-3 mission stand successful
September 2: Pragyan Rover put to sleep
September 4: Vikram Lander performs second soft landing
September 4: Vikram Lander put to sleep
September 22: ISRO tries to revive Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover