India’s space agency, ISRO, is facing challenges in communicating with its moon lander and rover, Chandrayaan-3. Despite efforts to establish contact, no signals have been received.
In August, the Vikram lander, carrying the Pragyan rover, successfully reached the moon’s south pole and conducted data gathering and imaging for two weeks. However, it was put into “sleep mode” during the lunar nightfall, with the hope that its batteries would recharge and reactivate when the sun rose. The extreme cold on the moon during the night may have damaged the batteries.
ISRO recently made history with the Chandrayaan-3 mission, marking India as the first country to achieve a successful spacecraft landing near the lunar south pole, joining the ranks of the US and China.
The mission was carefully timed to coincide with the start of a lunar day, giving Vikram and Pragyan two weeks of sunlight to carry out their tasks. A lunar day and night each last 14 Earth days due to the moon’s unique rotation.
ISRO initially expressed hope for a successful reawakening of Vikram and Pragyan, citing examples like China’s Chang’e4 lander and Yutu2 rover. However, former ISRO chief AS Kiran Kumar noted that the extreme night temperatures near the lunar south pole (ranging from -200°C to -250°C) and batteries not designed for such conditions may pose challenges.
ISRO has also acknowledged the possibility that Vikram and Pragyan may not reactivate and stated that they would remain on the moon as “India’s lunar ambassador” if they do not wake up.
