Chandrayaan-3: Mission impossible? Will ISRO be able to revive Vikram Lander, Pragyan Rover?

Photo Credit: ISRO

ISRO scientist says Vikram lander and Pragyan Rover activation seems to be "dimming with each passing hour.” Know what the Chandrayaan-3 mission future holds. Is it mission impossible now?

Photo Credit: ISRO

Chandrayaan-3 mission has completed its course of conducting studies on the lunar surface for 14 days with the help of the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover.

Photo Credit: ISRO

However, after that both the Moon lander and rover were put into sleep mode due to the commencement of lunar night when it gets extremely cold. 

Photo Credit: ISRO

On Friday, ISRO reported that it is trying to communicate with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover as a new lunar day has started with sunshine filtering onto their solar panels .

Photo Credit: ISRO

However, no signal from the lander or the rover have been received yet. BBC quoted former ISRO chief AS Kiran Kumar, "The lander and rover have so many components which may not have survived the frigid temperatures on the Moon."

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During the lunar night, the temperature on the Moon dips to lower than -200 degrees which is challenging for the sensitive electronic parts of the Moon lander.

Photo Credit: ISRO

Kumar also reported that the transmitter on the lander needs to be activated for it to be alive and there is no connectivity.

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As of now, ISRO is putting all its efforts to revive the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover. The chances though are very low as many days have passed since their activation. Increasingly, it is becoming a mission impossible. 

Photo Credit: NASA

If the Moon lander starts functioning, ISRO will be able to study the Moon's surface further. This will be marked as phase 2 of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

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If the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover do not wake up then they will stay on the Moon forever.

Photo Credit: ISRO

ISRO will try to establish signal with Vikram lander and Pragyan rover till the next lunar night. It is expected that ISRO will be providing more information on the awakening status of the Moon lander soon.