Chandrayaan 3: Will Vikram & Pragyan Be Moon's Forever Ambassador Or A Space Vampire

After having slept from 4th September, Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover of Chandrayaan-3 are all set to wake up with the lunar dawn which began on 21st Sept 2023. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to re-establish communication on 22nd September.

ISRO (SAC) Director Nilesh Desai said, "We'll be trying to revive both the lander as well as the rover on 22nd September, and if our luck is good, we will have a revival of both this lander and rover and we'll get some more experimental data which will be useful for us to further do the investigation of the Moon surface," as reported by PTI.

On 2nd September, ISRO had posted on its social media page that, "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. 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." Apparently, Vikram Rover and Pragyan Lander were put to sleep to withstand the lunar night which is 14 Earth days long. Daytime temperatures near the lunar equator reach a boiling 250 degrees Fahrenheit (120° C, 400 K), while nighttime temperatures get to a chilly -208 degrees Fahrenheit (-130° C, 140 K) as per NASA. Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover would continue their scientific experiments once and if revived in what many people are calling Chandryaan 3, Phase II.

Everyone is eagerly waiting for the results. The govt of India and ISRO collectively have also launched a competition called the Chandrayaan-3 Mahaquiz to spread awareness of India's lunar mission. Citizens can log in to MyGov and participate in this quiz.

On 23rd August, Chandrayaan-3 "successfully soft-landed " on the moon. IRSO said, "'I reached my destination, and you too!': Chandrayaan-3. Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon. Congratulations, India!" From that time till 4th September, the rover and lander have collected bulks of data including "presence of Sulphur (S) on the lunar surface", detection of the "presence of minor elements", measure of "near-surface plasma content" etc.

Chandrayaan-3 mission, which was launched on July 14, 2023, has already put India on as a leader in global space research marking India as the 4th country to land successfully on the moon. Not only this, India also became the 1st to land near the lunar south pole. If the revival mission is successful, it would be a first for India and ISRO globally.