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Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, which were put into sleep mode in early September, were supposed to wake up again on September 22, 2023, the day of the first lunar sunrise since August 23, the day on which Chandrayaan-3 made its historic soft landing on the Moon. However, Vikram and Pragyan failed to wake up on the expected date. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) tried to establish communication with the lander and the rover to verify their awakening. However, ISRO received no signals from them. The Indian space agency is still trying to re-establish contact.
Pragyan was put to sleep on September 2, and Vikram went off to sleep on September 4. The payloads were switched off. Pragyan’s battery was fully charged, the receiver was kept on, and the solar panels were oriented in such a way that they would receive the sunlight at lunar sunrise. Similarly, Vikram’s payloads were kept on. Despite all this, Vikram and Pragyan did not come back to life.
Why did Vikram and Pragyan not wake up?
One of the most important reasons why Vikram and Pragyan did not wake up is that lunar nights are extremely cold. This means that the batteries might have been affected.
Explaining why Vikram and Pragyan did not wake up again, Manish Purohit, a former ISRO scientist who was involved in the Chandrayaan-2 and Mangalyaan missions, and is a solar panel expert, said, “Vikram and Pragyan were expected to wake up after braving the harsh lunar nights where temperatures dip to minus 180 degrees Celsius. The chances of revival were totally dependent on the batteries surviving the long lunar nights. Currently, the team is continuously trying to get a connection to the lander and the rover, and waiting for the temperatures to rise as the lunar day progresses. Since we do not have any radioisotope heating unit, we can only wait and watch.”
A radioisotope heating unit provides heat through radioactive decay.
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Is there a possibility that Vikram and Pragyan will wake up again?
The chances of Vikram and Pragyan waking up again are minimal, and there is no guarantee because the conditions on the Moon will determine whether the lander and the rover can come back to life.
“ISRO is showing little optimism about the reawakening of Vikram and Pragyan. It is not guaranteed. This totally depends on the conditions up there. We can wait for the entire lunar day to see how the temperature rises,” said Purohit.
Since one lunar day is equal to 14 Earth days, lunar sunset will occur on October 6, 2023.
If at all Vikram and Pragyan come back to life, they will start responding to the messages and commands sent by ISRO from its ground stations, Purohit explained.
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Why could Pragyan not print the National Emblem of India on the Moon?
While the National Emblem of India and the ISRO logo were printed on Pragyan’s wheels, the rover could not imprint these on the Moon.
This is because the lunar soil, which is expected to be grainy, could be lumpy at some points, especially at the latitudes of Chandrayaan-3’s landing site, Purohit explained.
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What secrets could Chandrayaan-3 reveal about lunar soil?
The data sent by Vikram and Pragyan is being thoroughly analysed by ISRO, and this will help scientists understand the lunar regolith in detail, Purohit said. “Most of the information we have about lunar soil is from NASA’s Apollo missions. But these spacecraft landed in regions near the lunar equator.”
Therefore, he explained, Chandrayaan-3’s historic soft landing on the Moon’s south pole opens the door to a new field of exploration and allows scientists to unravel secrets such as the nature of lunar soil towards the poles.
Will future missions bring Chandrayaan-3’s samples back to Earth?
Explaining if future lunar missions will bring back Chandrayaan-3’s samples to Earth, similar to OSIRIS-REx, Purohit said, “Maybe in the future, a new lunar mission will be launched which would be able to return samples. With a sufficiently powerful launch vehicle, this can be done in a duration of 10-14 days.”
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