Bad news for Chandrayaan-3 Mission! ISRO delays bringing Vikram Lander back from the dead

Chandrayaan-3 mission was to enter phase 2 today with the reactivation of the Vikram lander. However, ISRO has delayed the plans.

Chandrayaan-3 mission was put on hold due to the commencement of lunar night a fortnight ago and the Vikram lander was put on sleep mode so it could withstand the harsh Moon weather.

The Vikram lander was put into sleep mode on September 4, 2023, and all its functionalities were shut down except the receiver. 

The Vikram lander has been in sleep mode for more than 15 days now and ISRO was supposed to reactivate it so the Chandrayaan-3 phase 2 could successfully begin.

But, due to some reason, bringing back Vikram lander from the dead state was postponed till tomorrow, September 23, 2023.

Nilesh Desai, Director of Space Applications Centre reported that, “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."

The reason for the delay was not stated by ISRO, but now, the scientists are expecting to activate Vikram lander tomorrow. 

Horrifyingly, according to an India Today report, ISRO also stated that they failed to get any signal from the Vikram lander and that they will attempt the activation again tomorrow.

The Sun has already risen on the Moon's south pole and as per ISRO scientists, Vikram lander should be able to charge its batteries fully from the Sun's rays.

Now, it looks like the scientists are facing some difficulties in regaining communication which is causing the delay in the Chandrayaan-3 mission affecting ISRO plans.

Now, the hopes for Vikram lander to wake up have been shaken and the future of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is getting increasingly blurred. But, ISRO scientists are still hopeful about the reactivation.