Chandrayaan-3 mission: Why RHU’s are important for lunar missions

Photo Credit: ISRO

Chandrayaan-3 mission is on halt due to lack of nuclear technology. Know why Vikram lander and Pragyan rover struggle to wake up from sleep mode.

Photo Credit: ISRO

Chandrayaan-3 mission was a successful lunar mission with Vikram lander landing on the moon and it conducted studies for 14 days.

Photo Credit: ISRO

However, as soon as the lunar night began on the lunar south pole, ISRO put the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover in sleep mode with the hope that they could survive the extreme weather of the Moon.

Photo Credit: ISRO

Since September 22, ISRO has been making efforts to revive the lander and the rover but no signal has been received till now. Now the question arises, what went wrong and why they are not waking up from their sleep?

Photo Credit: ISRO

As per reports, the Chandrayaan-3 mission was not equipped with Radioisotope heating units (RHU) which are required to survive lunar night and function during extreme cold weather.

Photo Credit: NASA

As per reports the propulsion module of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is equipped with two RHUs and is powered by nuclear technology.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Times of India quoted an ISRO official and said, “The RHUs could not be installed on Chandrayaan-3’s Vikaram lander and Pragyan rover because it would have increased their mass.”

Photo Credit: ISRO

Therefore, this signifies how critical it is to install RHUs for space missions to avoid any lag.

Photo Credit: ISRO

Now, ISRO is waiting for the lander and the rover to wake up from their sleep and give us some new findings on the Moon’s surface.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The chances of revival are very slim but the team of ISRO is putting in all their hopes and efforts.

Photo Credit: ISRO

As the hope keeps on dimming with each day passing, the progress in the upcoming Chandrayaan-4 mission has brought new hopes of India making further progress in its space exploration efforts.