Chandrayaan-3 update: 'No signals have been received from Vikram lander, Pragyan rover,' says ISRO

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday said that, as part of its Chandrayaan-3 mission, it made efforts to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition, but no signals have been received from them as yet. However, the India space agency said it is continuing its efforts to establish contact with them.

"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: 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 wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The space agency has postponed plans to revive the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover on the Moon. The original plan was to reactivate the two spacecraft on the evening of September 22, 2023, but due to some reasons, the ISRO has now decided to delay the attempt until September 23.

Nilesh Desai, Director of Space Applications Centre, said that the delay was necessary in order to ensure the safety of the spacecraft. He said that the ISRO is still conducting tests and simulations to ensure that the reactivation procedure will be successful.

"Earlier we planned to reactivate the (Pragyan) rover and (Vikram) lander on the evening of 22nd September, but due to some reasons we will now do it tomorrow on September 23," Desai said.

The Vikram lander and Pragyan rover were put into sleep mode on September 4 and 2 respectively, ahead of the lunar night. The lunar night lasts for approximately 14 days, and during this time, the temperature on the lunar surface can drop to as low as -200 degrees Celsius.

The Vikram lander and Pragyan rover are both equipped with heaters, but it is unclear whether these heaters will be powerful enough to keep the spacecraft operational at such low temperatures. Additionally, the spacecraft may have been damaged during the landing process, which could further reduce their chances of survival.

After a 40-day voyage through space, the Vikram lander atop the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the uncharted lunar South Pole on August 23. On September 2, the Pragyan Rover was securely parked and put to sleep after traversing over 100 metres on the lunar surface from the Shiv Shakti Point.

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