Isro awaits Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover's awakening on Moon

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is closely monitoring the status of its Chandrayaan-3 lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan) after they were commanded to enter sleep mode on September 3. Isro Chairman S Somanath revealed that the space agency is eagerly awaiting to see if they come back to life with the return of sunlight on the Moon.

"It would have been easy if there was a way we could know if they would wake up, but we have to wait and see how systems behave after Sunrise," stated Isro Chairman S Somanath.

Somanath had previously stated that if the systems managed to survive the lunar night, there was a possibility of them automatically waking up. The crucial moment, the Sunrise on the Moon, occurred early Wednesday, but Vikram and Pragyan require specific conditions to reactivate.


"The optimal Sun elevation angle for systems to work would be 6° to 9°. The temperature has to rise above a certain threshold too. For the wake-up, we need power generation and temperature on the elements on Vikram and Pragyan to meet certain criteria. We should know something by September 21 or 22. If they wake up, it'll wake up during this time," explained M Sankaran, director of the UR Rao Satellite Centre, which leads the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Isro scientists have emphasized that the reawakening of Vikram and Pragyan would be a significant bonus. The data collected when they were last operational is expected to provide valuable insights, especially considering that all previous in situ experiments were conducted in the equatorial region of the Moon.

Both Vikram and Pragyan have successfully fulfilled their primary mission objectives, including soft-landing on the Moon, surface roving, and conducting on-site experiments. Remarkably, Vikram even performed a short lunar hop, surpassing the initial mission goals.

(With inputs from TOI)