The Indian Space Research Organisation said on September 2 night that Chandrayaan-3’s rover Pragyan had completed its assignments and it had been safely parked and set into sleep mode.
“Chandrayaan-3 Mission: The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode. APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off. Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander,” the space agency posted on X.
The battery is fully charged and the solar panel is oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, it added.
“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 ISRO posted.
The Chandrayaan-3’s rover, Pragyan, has traversed over 100 metres from the lander Vikram on the surface of the moon.
Earlier in the day, ISRO chairperson S. Somanath, after the launch of the Aditya-L1, said, “The lander and rover are functioning. Our team, using the scientific instruments, are doing a lot of work. The good news is that the rover has moved 100 metres from the lander.”
Mr. Somnath said that ISRO is likely to start the process of putting the rover to sleep in the coming days. “We are going to start the process of making the rover sleep in the coming one or two days because it has to withstand the night,” he explained.
The lander and the rover, with a mission life of one Lunar day (14 Earth days), have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface. Since its landing on the Moon on August 23, they have carried out many in-situ measurements and taken pictures.
“The lander and the rover will stay on the Moon for 14 days until they get sunlight. When there is no sunlight, a small solar panel, which is on the rover, will generate power to charge the battery for the next 14 days until they get sunlight,” Mr. Somanath had said
Once the Sun sets on the Moon, temperature can plunge below minus 200°C.
“The temperature there goes down to -200 minus degrees. In such an environment, there is no guarantee that the battery, electronics will survive, but we did some tests and we get the feeling that they will survive even in such harsh conditions,” Mr Somnath had said.
